Where Are You?
by LaCoeurdelaMer
Summary: The crew is here in our world and turning the lives of our five main characters upsidedown. With broken hearts, mischivous pranks, new people, and lots of snow, it all leads up to, amazingly, a wedding! READ THIS AND DRINK MOUNTAIN DEW!
1. Cold Day in July

Part THREE! Yayness! I really can't believe that I've been writing these. And I started in 8th grade. Weird...

-ONE-

Ia, the 18 (almost 19) year-old sat on the swing besides her grandfather's house. She and Skie lived in the apartment above it while he's in the nursing home.

She sighed slowly and looked up at the deep blue sky with the big puffy clouds that she loved. She would be happy, if she wasn't so miserable.

"This sucks." she said to herself. According to her and her boyfriend, she spoke her mind a little too much. But she didn't care.

"What sucks?" someone asked from behind her. She slowly turned her head and saw Sanji behind her.

She jumped up and went into his arms and was about to have a passionate kiss with him when a giant CLAP of thunder hit and her eyes opened to see her closed laptop over across the small bedroom on her desk. Outside the old window, rain was lashing and a lightning bolt streaked across the sky making a purplish glow hit her bedroom.

"DAMN!" she yelled but shut up instantly, hoping not to wake anybody. She and Skie had the boys staying in the living room. But to be even more cautious, they had them in the living room downstairs and their door was locked along with their bedroom doors.

The reason for the swear was that she had liked the dream. Sure she was going out with Cam but still. What the hell was wrong with her?

She laid back down on her squishy bed that was three feet up from the floor for about five minutes when she realized that she couldn't fall back asleep.

Getting up crankily, she flipped up her laptop's screen and started typing her sequal to her first book that was already out in stores all across the country and Britain. She was becoming famous and she could take a bath in the amount of dollar bills she had just laying around her room. Skie was the same way but she had it instead with Mangas. She had about three copies already out in stores. She was even trying to start her own publishing company. Her dream.

H-E-R-E-I-T-G-O-E-S-A-G-A-I-N

The church bells were toling the hour of 10 when Ia awoke after being up for two hours last night. She could smell the waffles in the kitchen that Skie was making.

She looked out the window and saw that it was still raining. Well, not really. There was a mist in the air and it had a chill to it. She liked those kinds of days. A day to dress in her sweatshirts and jeans on a mid July day.

She walked out into the kitchen to see Skie already dressed and ready to go.

"Where are you going?" Ia asked, rubbing her eyes and getting some of her blueberry waffles out of the freezer. Skie, for some retarded reason, didn't like blueberries. Crazy person. (!P)

"Nowhere. I just felt like getting dressed early and looking nice today. Is that a problem?" Skie asked a little shrilly.

Ia looked slightly confused. "No, I guess not?" she said as she put her waffles in the toaster and went to get herself some Jilberts milk.

"Ok, then." Skie said and sat down at the table to eat her maple syrup drenched waffles.

"The boys up yet?" Ia asked as she got a plate from the dish rack next to the sink.

"Not sure. Didn't go down there yet."

"Mmm. Here that storm last night?" Ia asked as her waffles came up.

"And a very loud swear." she said, eyeing Ia.

"DAMN!" Ia yelled.

"Just like that!" Skie said happily. "Why were you swearing anyway? You're story couldn't have sucked that much?"

Ia gave Skie her signature look of hate mixed with death.

"No. Thunder just woke me from a nice dream. A very nice dream." Ia said quietly after.

"Was it another Cam dream." Skie said irritably.

Ia hesitated. "No."

"Then what was it about?" Skie asked.

"I, uh, can't remember. All I know is that it was a nice dream." Ia said a little shakily.

"Kay." Skie said and left the apartment and went down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Ia called down the stairs.

"Nowhere!" she called and went out the big brown door in the small entrance hall and out onto the porch. Ia closed the door with her mind as Skie went out in the rain.

Ia took her plate of waffles and went and sat on their big puffy soft-like suede chair with the big arms and watched Live With Regis and Kelly then The Price is Right.

C-O-L-D-D-A-Y-I-N-J-U-L-Y

Half way through The Price is Right, there was a loud knock at the front door.

Ia didn't get up or open the door with her mind, she just yelled, "IT'S OPEN!"

"There's no food down there!" Zac complained loudly as he walked in with Cam.

Ia stared at him from her chair.

"You've been staying down there, what? Two days! And you haven't even realized that theres no food?" Ia shouted.

"How much food you got up here?"

"Sixteen waffles." Ia said as they bolted it to the kitchen. "Blueberry waffles." Ia said, smirking.

Zac came into the living room looking very grim indeed.

"Skie ate the last of hers this morning." Ia said as she put the licked clean plate on the coffee table.

"Where is Skie, anyway?" Zac asked, looking apprehensive.

"She said nowhere." Ia said as she looked at the TV where the guy was bidding. "FOUR! IT'S NUMBER FOUR! YOU IDIOT, FOUR!" Ia screamed suddenly.

Zac looked uncomfortable.

"Looser doesn't know it's four." Ia yelled at Zac.

"Don't go on Price is Right. You'll cheat."

"_Oh, you should have picked four._" The host who WASN'T Bob Barker said to the man on the TV.

"It's not cheeting. It's just knowing what it is."

"You're not cheeting?" Zac asked slowly.

"I can't read minds through the TV?" Ia yelled as Skie came through the open door.

"SKIE-CHAN!" Zac yelled and jumped up to hug her. Ia stared in disgust and surprise.

"Oh, it's not like you don't do it in public!" Skie said as she sat down on the couch that matched the chair.

"Oh, no. It's not that. I just can't believe you two are going out." Ia said, coming out of her trace.

"We've been going out-" Zac yelled but was interrupted by Ia suddenly going into a giggle fit. Zac continued. "Since Freshman year and you still giggle. You are so immature."

"Who gives a crap if I'm immature? Like J.D. said." Ia said as she got up and went into her bedroom to get dressed.

She came out nearly two seconds later wearing her jeans and red shirt with her Freshman year Swimteam sweatshirt. The one that said Ia on the back. She had on socks now and her hair was in a half-up-half-down. She had a big lock of hair in her face still covering her eye.

She was about to sit in her chair when she found that Zac and Skie had taken it.

"That does suck!" Ia said with a huge note of annoyance in her voice as she quoted Wayne's World. She just sat on the couch.

A-S-L-O-N-G-A-S-Y-O-U-R-M-I-N-E

Ia was at her parents house. She was going to visit her grandparents on her mom's side with them and didn't want to waste her own gas.

"We going yet?" she asked as her little sister, Sarah, walked by. Trying to get something to eat.

"Just a minute." her mom said as she pulled on her shoes.

"When's Ann coming up?"

"Weekend after this." her dad said as he walked in.

"The wedding's up here, right?" Ia asked as she slipped her flipflops back on.

"Yes, of course. Your grandpa couldn't go down to Duluth." her mom said, referring to her grandpa Boosta. Her dad's dad.

"Ah, yes. We need dresses, though." Ia said, referring to the dresses the Bride's Maids had to wear. She was a Bride's Maid. Not the Maid of Honor, though.

"Yes, yes. We know." her mom said as they went out the door.

As always, Ia got the right hand seat in the back. It did have her two stickers from High School on it on that side. Her Band and Swimming stickers. Sarah hated that she always got that side.

After being there for an hour, Ia started getting board with the talking. So she went downstairs to their furnished basement and found Sarah down there shooting the balls on their pool table.

"Want a game, Sarah?" Ia asked, smirking.

"No."

"Why?"

"You always beat me."

"How do you think I feel when I play Ben?" Ia shouted as she grabbed the pool stick she used.

"Fine." Sarah said angrily and exasperated.

Ia set them up and they played. It took Ia a while to realize something.

On the ride home and the walk across the street to her apartment, Ia thought about it.

It wasn't till she got up there and into her bedroom that she realized what it ment.

"I'm in _love_? With... _Sanji_?"

* * *

Well, I'm finally ending the chapter. Took me three days. Elha. Well, I hoped you liked it. Don't say it sucks cuz it WILL get better. It's the first freiken chapter, Gosh. (So Napoleon Dynamite)

Now, I'm going to list the songs in that are featured in my chappie! Kay!

Here it Goes Again- Ok Go

Cold Day in July- Dixie Chicks

As Long As You're Mine- Idena Menzil and Norbert Leo Butz from the cast of the Broadway production of Wicked

7-3-07


	2. The Plan

Here we go again!

-TWO-

Skie walked in the door.

"What's a matter?" she asked, sitting on Ia's desk office chair and crossing her legs indian style.

"Something is drastically wrong. Where are the boys?" Ia asked as she sat indian style on her bed. The transparent red canopy that hung from her ceiling was closed around her bed.

"They're... I don't know, actually?" Skie said as she opened the canopy.

"Crap."

"What's a matter?" Skie repeated.

"IthinkImightbeinlovewithSanjiagain." Ia said quietly.

"What?" Skie said in total confusion.

"I... think... I might... be... in... l-l. L-l-l." Ia stuttered.

Skie gave Ia a long look of incomprehension.

"L-lo."

"Love?"

Ia cringed slightly at that word.

"Love Cam?"

"I alreay know that!" Ia snapped suddenly and loudly. "No... it's someone else."

"If you say Zac-"

"OH GOD! EWWW!" Ia yelled in disgust. Scooting away from Skie and backing into the wall.

"Well, who is it?"

"Guy we know." she said after a hesitation.

"We know? There's lots of guys we know."

"Who's not from around here." Ia said, curling up into a little ball on her bed and laying on her side.

"Not from around here? Who do we know who's not from around- OH!" Skie yelled finally getting it. "Sanji!" she squealed.

When Ia didn't answer, Skie took that as a yes.

"YOU LOVE SANJI AGAIN!?" she screamed in excitement and anxiety.

"SHHHHHHHHHH! WOULD YOU SHUT UP!? DO YOU WANT ALL OF NEGAUNEE TO KNOW?" Ia yelled as Skie calmed down and sat back down, this time on Ia's bed beside Ia.

"Do you?" she whispered.

"I... think... don't know?" Ia said from her fetal position.

"Well, I don't know how you'd find out." Skie said as Ia got an idea.

T-U-E-S-D-A-Y-G-O-N-E

"Here!" Ia said as she handed Skie the metal baseball bat she had borrowed from her cousin, Erin.

"Do you really think this'll work?" Skie asked as she took the bat and held it up high.

They were in the living room of their apartment and there were a bunch of pillows lying around them. It was now raining hard outside. It was around 6:00 pm.

"I don't know. It might, it might not."

"What if I give you amnesia?" Skie said, lowering the bat a bit.

"My minds too powerful, it won't happen!" she said, smiling.

They heard someone coming up the stairs.

"How long do I have to wait?"

"To get me up?" Ia asked.

"Yeah?"

"I'll just wake up. If I'm not up tomorrow afternoon, use that." she said, pointing to the air horn on the coffee table.

"Ok." Skie said uncertainly as she raised the bat over her head. Just as she was doing so, Cam and Zac entered the room right as Skie swung down as hard as she could on the top of Ia's head.

"Ia!" Cam yelled and ran over to her.

She stood there for a few seconds before her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed into Cam's outstretched arms.

"SKIE!? WHAT THE DEVIL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" he yelled, holding Ia up.

"SHE TOLD ME TO DO THAT! WHY WOULD I DELIBERATELY DO THAT TO HER!?" Skie yelled.

"She is very irritating." Zac said, sitting on the arm of the couch.

Cam and Skie glared at Zac, "Not helping!" Skie yelled.

"She dead?" Zac asked as Cam placed her on the couch. He took her right hand and felt her pulse.

"She's alive. But she's got a huge goose egg on her head." he said, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Maybe you should put her in her room?" Skie asked. Cam nodded his head and picked up the unconscious Ia and brought her into her bedroom.

He placed her on her bed gently and gave her a small kiss on the lips.

"Love you." he said quietly and left the room.

A-L-L-Y-O-U-R-L-O-V-E

She had a splitting headache.

Ia opened her eyes to see darkness. A flood of light appeared as Nami came into her bedroom.

"Holy crap, it worked!" Ia said to the darkness. Nami screamed.

"WHO'S THERE!?"

"The QUEEN of BAND geeks." Ia said dramatically. "Or the Evil Queen of Hearts. I rule them all!" she said with a maniacal laughter.

"Hello, Ia," Nami said flatly as she lit a lamp. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to do something. I don't know how long I'll be here. Skie might be blowing the air horn in a matter of minutes."

"What?"

"I have something to do." Ia said.

"Oh, what's that, then?" Nami asked, sitting on her bed.

"Besides murder Zoro, no. I have to see if I'm in love with Sanji again."

"How are you going to do that?" Nami asked.

Ia thought about that. "Probably kiss him. See if there's any fireworks." she said.

"Fireworks?" Nami asked.

"Yes, fireworks!" Ia snapped and got up from where she was sitting.

"Alright. Sanji's in the kitchen, cleaning up." Nami said as Ia left the room.

O-U-T-O-F-T-H-E-B-L-U-E

Ia stood next to the door and groomed herself a little. She tried to flatten her hair, smoothed out her red shirt and adjusted her self a little. She cleared her throat and went in.

She could see the back of Sanji's yellow blond haired head as he stood there, washing dishes.

She cleared her throat again, trying to see if he would recognize her without looking.

"Luffy, no more food till breakfast!" he shouted without turning around.

"What if I'm hungry?" she asked, placing her hands behind her back.

"I don't care- Ia?" he asked, turning around.

Ia half shrugged and said, "Hi."

He made a motion to run up to her but stopped.

"What's a matter? You having seizures?" Ia asked, trying not to laugh at her own joke.

"No. You have a boyfriend." he said bitterly.

"Yeah. Yeah I do." she said, smiling slightly at the thought of him.

Sanji cocked the eyebrow, "Well?" he asked a bit bitterly, a little bit curious.

"Well what?" Ia asked.

"What are you doing here?"

"I have something to do."

"Get the necklace back."

"What?" Ia asked, staring at him confusedly.

"The necklace. Your necklace you dropped here." he said, pulling it out. The half heart swung from the chain.

Ia walked up and said, "That's Cam's."

"What!?"

"I'm wearing mine." she said, as she moved her hand to her chest and noticed it wasn't there. "WHERE IS IT!" she spazzed till she twisted the chain around and said, "There it is!" and held it there.

Sanji looked at the one he'd been cherishing for the past year and quickly flung it to the table.

Ia scowled and went to pick it up. "Like I'm in love with you." she muttered.

"What did you say?" Sanji asked, surprised.

"I said 'like I'm in lov-! NOTHING!"

"Love? You love me?" he said, eye wide.

Ia hesitated, "Maybe." she said shakily. Her mind was screaming to stop talking, her heart was too, but for a different reason...

W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L

Luffy was walking around the ship, trying to walk off his hunger, but it didn't work. He had to eat something.

He ran up to the kitchen door and opened it to see Ia and Sanji in a close embrace, kissing fiercely.

* * *

Ok, if I was conscious when Cam said 'love you', I'd be like 'love you more!'!!! 

I didn't even have a clue how they would go into the kiss, so the Luffy thing popped up! Don't get mad... you know who I'm talking to.

_Song List! _

Tuesday Gone- Lynard Skynard

All you're love- by the Flat Broke Blues Band (the band my auntie Lorie's in)

Out of the Blue- by Aly and A.J.

Wonderful- performed by Idina Menzel and Joel Grey from the cast of the Broadway production of Wicked

7-9-07


	3. Lies of Fireworks

Such a scandal! Can you imagine it? Scandal's a funny word. You ever notice if you say a word a lot it doesn't even sound like a word anymore? Got that from Scrubs!

-THREE-

"Were there any fireworks?" Nami asked.

Ia recalled that nights events as they occurred. They talked blah blah blah... they kissed. But when they were kissing.

"A little. Like... Ishpeming rated. Maybe Marquette, if you're pushing it. But nowhere near Negaunee. No."

Nami's look of confusion told Ia she had to explain. "Ok. So every year for 4th of July, Marquette and Ishpeming (neighboring towns) put off a Fireworks show. Ishpeming's are ok. Marquette are always better than Ishpeming's. But Negaunee's a week later on Pioneer Day are like being prepared for a death by explosion. Especially if you're right under them." Ia said warningly.

"Ok." Nami said, kinda getting it.

Ia shook her head.

I-D-O-N-T-T-H-I-N-K-N-O-W-I-S-T-H-E-B-E-S-T-T-I-M-E

Ia was brushing her hair the next morning alone in her's and Nami's room when Sanji came in.

"Ia... about last night?"

"You're trying to apologize." Ia said, looking at him through the mirror.

"Yes." he said, letting out a breath.

"You don't have to." Ia said, turning around as she placed the brush down.

"Why?" he asked.

She stood up as her eyes reached near his noes, "I caused the kiss." she said, smiling slightly as she exited the room with Sanji at her heals.

"Why? I thought I did?"

"Are we arguing about who started the kiss?" Ia said, trying not to laugh.

"It looks like it." Sanji said as she stopped right before the door to the kitchen, he stood next to her, a little closely.

"Look. I'm only here for a short time. I just needed to see if I liked you again?" she said.

Sanji hesitated. "D-do you?" he asked.

"You'll have to figure that out." Ia said and went into the kitchen.

O-N-E-S-H-O-R-T-D-A-Y

Skie was laying on the couch the next day, flipping through channels trying to find something good.

Cam was sitting in the chair with his feet on the glass coffee table and Zac was in the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Skie asked.

"11:30." Zac shouted from the kitchen.

They heard something in Ia's room and Skie and Cam ran in. Cam actually sprinted in.

Ia was still unconscious on her bed and was talking.

"You're trying to apologize." she said in her sleep.

"What is she doing?" Cam asked, moving up to her. Her face was expressionless.

"You don't have to." Ia said.

"Don't have to do what?" Zac asked, coming in with a box of something.

"I caused the kiss." she said.

"What." Cam said flatly and in a monotone. But there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"Are we arguing about who started the kiss?" she said, a note of toying in her voice. She was obviously enjoying what she was doing.

"What!?" Cam said loudly this time. Skie's eyes were huge and was now saying, "Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP!" in a shriek.

"Look. I'm only here for a short time. I just needed to see if I liked you again?" Ia said.

"SHE LIKES WHO?" Cam shouted.

"Please say no. Say there were no Fireworks." Skie pleaded under her breath.

"You'll have to figure that out." Ia said and stopped talking.

Cam looked as if he was about to die or shoot someone. Preferably the closest person.

"WHAT WAS SHE TALKING ABOUT!?" he yelled at Skie.

Skie faltered at the words, "Who knows!" she laughed.

"YOU KNOW!"

"No I don't! Why would I know!?"

"You said she told you to knock her out. She obviously had a reason!" Cam said, trying to keep his voice down.

"Um... let's just say, hypothetically, she liked, oh say... some chef. She wanted to see if there were, in her words, 'any Fireworks between us'. And she kissed him to see. What would you do?"

Cam was silent.

"Cam?"

"I'm going to throttle Sanji." he said and stormed out of the room.

S-I-N-C-E-Y-O-U-V-E-B-E-E-N-G-O-N-E

Ia and Nami were out on deck talking. The sea was a little bumpy that day. The spray kept hitting the railings and splashing Luffy and Usopp and Chopper.

As they were talking, a very loud noise rang through Ia's ears. She clapped her hands to her ears and grimaced.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked as Ia opened her eyes to see Cam's face and she could hear an air horn next to her ear.

Ia got mad and slapped it from Skie's grip.

"I'm up, for God's sake!" Ia yelled as she sat up and rubbed her head. She had a horrible headache.

"Ia... you ok?" Cam asked.

"I'm fine? Why?" she said.

Cam then got up and walked out of the room.

Ia was speechless. "What the hell just happened. What did you do." She said to Skie.

"I didn't do anything-"

"You did." Zac cut in.

"I was unconscious. What did I do?" Ia said, reproachfully.

"You talk in your sleep."

Ia's eyes grew so big they were in danger of blowing up. "What did I say?" she asked quietly.

"Somethin about who started the kiss." Zac said.

"Oh, thank God! If I had said what I was thinking when I did kiss him! I wouldn't have been surprised if he woke me up then and there." Ia said, shaking a little. "So... does he know why I was there?" Ia asked.

"Yeah." Skie said quietly.

"WHAT!?" Ia screamed and grabbed the front of Skie's shirt, preventing her from escaping from Ia's room.

"You were talking! How else was I suppose to cover that up!?" Skie said, trying to break free.

"You could have LIED!?" Ia yelled.

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSE TO LIE!? YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT KISSING!?"

"You could have said it was with him."

"He was there for the hit." Skie said.

Ia looked a little pale and let Skie go. She immediately stood behind Zac.

"Shit," Ia muttered and sat on her bed. "How are we suppose to cover that up?"

"We don't, he already knows." Skie yelled.

Ia got up and went towards Skie, who yelped and hid behind Zac, using him as a human shield but Ia just passed by them and went into the kitchen where Cam was, fuming.

"You ok?" she asked, knowing full well what he was about to say. He was rehearsing it in his mind.

"NO! You _kissed _SANJI?!" he yelled at her.

"I-it was just a friendly hello kiss. Not much. Just like- you know, quick." she said shakily as she lied through her teeth.

"Just... quick. No... no toung."

Ia looked throughly disgusted, "No." she lied quickly.

"Do you like him?"

Ia looked uncomfortable for a second then smiled brightly, "He's just a friend." she said, sounding honest. Which she wasn't at all in that kitchen.

"Ok, I believe you." he said and kissed her and went into the living room.

Ia stood there and slid more into the room so she was hidden from view so she could smack herself in the forehead.

* * *

Arn't I just the BEST girlfriend!? I know I know...

SONG TIME!!!

I Don't Think Now is the Best Time- From the soundtrack of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

One Short Day- Performed by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked

Since You've Been Gone- Kelly Clarkson

7-10-07


	4. When they Came Along

I feel like writing... so much...

-FOUR-

"I was lying through my teeth." Ia said to Chey the next day. They were driving in Ia's car towards Ia's house. She had just picked up Chey at the Airport in Sawyer.

"You arn't the best girlfriend." Chey said in a matter-o-factly tone.

"I know that!" Ia snapped and accidentally jerked the wheel a bit and county road 480 was pretty crowded that day.

"Want me to drive?" Chey asked, holding onto the seat for dear life.

"I'm fine!" Ia snapped bitterly.

"Ok. So, why were you lying again?"

"Well..." Ia started and divulged the entire story again.

"I guess you just didn't want to get him all upset, I guess?" Chey said, shrugging.

"Would you lie to your boyfriend."

"Hell no."

"Even if you made out with Sanji behind his back?"

"First of all, I would never go that near to Sanji, and second of all, my boyfriend knows that I love Zoro. He'd be ok with me making out with him." Chey said.

"Would he?" Ia asked, looking at her friend.

"As a matter of fact, he would! We talked about it before." she said.

"Yes, but that's just hypothetically," Ia said with mocking fake cheeriness. "We've talked about it, amazingly, and he said that he'd just get mad but forgive me. I've been reading his thoughts lately-"

"What?" Chey cut in but Ia ignored her.

"And he's doubting that he trusts me! Doubting!" Ia yelled again with emphasis.

"I'd doubt your trust too if I was him."

Ia fixed a her cold stare at Chey and completely forgot about the road.

"Truck." Chey said calmly and Ia jerked the wheel to get on the right side of the road.

Ia gave her a guilty smile.

N-O-G-O-O-D-D-E-E-D

Ia put her keys on the small spindly legged table next to the door as she and Chey came in. Ia was levitating the bags into the corner of the living room.

"Where's Skie?"

"She was asleep when I left, so I don't know what she's doing now?" Ia said and took off her rain jacket and hung her umbrella on the hook on the wall next to the stair landing.

"It's a bit cleaner than the last time I was here."

"Yeah," Ia said flatly. "My older sister came over to visit one day and she straightened up a bit. That was two months ago. We've been able to keep it-" but Ia was cut off by Skie bounding out of the bathroom with wet hair wearing her jeans with the 10/6 markings all over them and her grey sweatshirt. She hugged Chey like a long lost sister.

"Ia didn't wake me up." Skie yelled.

"I tried. You just kept sleeping." Ia said, smirking.

"Chey! You're back!" Skie shouted.

"The Three Amigops are back!" Chey shouted as they did their three part hug and bumped heads. Chey and Skie used their glasses to stab Ia in the face.

F-O-R-I-E-I-G-N-V-I-S-I-T-O-R-S-A-R-R-I-V-E

Later that day, Skie and Chey were in Marquette and Ia decided to stay home. She didn't feel like going out. Even though she never passed up a chance to go shopping. She just sat sideways in the arm chair and typed up her book.

She was alone in the apartment. Something she liked a lot. Total silence where she could blast her iTunes and sing along as loud as she could.

She looked out the window at the pouring rain that was still hitting Negaunee. A car skimmed down Teal Lake Ave, which was right below her apartment.

She turned back to her Dell and kept typing. But her mind kept wandering.

"Crap, I'm never going to finish if I keep being stupid." Ia said as she closed her laptop (after saving her work) and put it on the glass coffee table.

She went into the small kitchen and made herself a sandwich (bologna and cheese with mayo) and went down to the porch.

After a while, her sister and small nephue came across the street.

Sarah and her nephue, Troy, came in and closed the umbrella she had.

"Hey Sarah. Hi, Troy!" she said sweetly to the little boy who held up his arms to be taken by Ia.

"What'cha doing, Livia?" Sarah asked as they walked up to Ia apartment.

"Not much. You? Why is Troy here?"

"Ben's visiting."

"I didn't know that! When did he get here?"

"Last night." Sarah said as they went inside.

"Of course." Ia said and went and sat on the couch with Troy.

Sarah opened up Ia's laptop and went to play The Sims.

L-O-N-G-T-I-M-E-G-O-N-E

A little later, Skie, Chey, Zac, and Cam came into the apartment while Ia was in the kitchen, still holding Troy. He was playing with her half heart necklace.

"Hey, you guys." Ia said, coming into the room.

Chey stared at Troy with wide eyes and shock.

"Is he your son?" she shrieked, her eyes darting back and forth from her and Cam as he stood next to her.

"NO! He's my nephue. Troy."

"Who's son?" Zac asked, looking at the small, brown haired boy with light green eyes.

"My brother's son," Ia muttered, placing the little boy in Chey's arms. "His middle name's after Spider-Man!"

"Peter?"

"Parker." Ia said, a little ashamed of her older brother's obsession with Spider-Man. "I wouldn't be surprised if when they have a daughter, her name would be Mary Jane." Ia said as they moved into the living room. Sarah was still there, playing The Sims. She still had the habit of placing them in the pool, taking away all the ladders and having them die and come back as ghosts.

"Sarah, could you leave?" Ia asked.

"Fine." the 12-year-old said and took Troy and left.

T-H-E-A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-S-P-I-D-E-R-M-A-N

That night, Ia couldn't sleep. She just tossed and turned but couldn't stay asleep. She was suffering from what she called, Chronic MB. Which stood for Mindblockagemia. She didn't want to read, she couldn't write, she was completely annoyed by what was running through her mind. Did she love Sanji or Cam? What would happen if she couldn't decide? What if Cam found out really how the kiss was? What if he never forgave her?

Ia started getting frustrated and got out of bed. She was wearing her blue, scotty dog pajama pants and a bright red tangtop with spaghetti straps. Her hair was up perfectly with the two locks falling in her face framing it the way she liked. She opened her door and went across the entrance room into the kitchen only to find the entire Straw Hat Crew sitting on the floor, asleep.

* * *

REAL SHOCKER! No, but still. They would come! Mu ha ha ha ha!

Now, onto business.

SoNgTiTlEs

No Good Deed- Idina Menzel (Wicked)

Foreign Visitors Arrive- from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Long Time Gone- The Dixie Chicks.

The Amazing Spider-Man- I don't know. Tell me if you do!

7-11-07 (HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX CAME OUT TODAY!!!!!)


	5. Hate and Izzy

Yay! Chapter five!

Do you want to know how awesome I am!? Well, today, I was swimming in the pool at MSHS and my goggles were foggy. So I couldn't see very well and I turned onto my stomach (I was back stroking) and my face, mainly my lip, smashed into the wall.

-FIVE-

"Holy crap!" Ia said and scooted down the hall towards Skie's room. She burst into the room and lifted Skie off of the bed and dropped her onto her floor, blankets and all.

"What the hell!?" she yelled but Ia grabbed her upper arm and dragged her down the hall and to the kitchen door. "Oh." Skie said as she spotted everybody. Luffy was under the table, Zoro was leaning against one of the chairs, Nami was leaning aginst the cabinets with Sanji's head in her lap, Ian was on top of the table, and Chopper and Usopp were back to back near the sink.

Right next to the door, against the cabinets that wrapped around the entirely small kitchen was a girl with long, flaming red hair and a heart-shaped face. She was wearing a plaid red mini skirt and jet black boots that went up to her knees. She had on a knit black tang-top and red nailpolish to match the red of the skirt. Her nose was pointed and she had rounded lips. In her left ear, the one closest to the door, she had about seven small gold hoop earrings going up her ear.

"Who's that?' Skie asked, pointing to the girl.

"Dunno. She must be new. She looks a little like Ian, though." Ia said quietly.

"Who?" Skie asked but Ia ignored her.

"What do we do?" Ia asked.

"I don't know."

"Sanji's face is going to hurt in the morning." Ia said, eyeing the lovebird.

"Yeah." Skie said, laughing.

A huge clap of thunder was heard from the open kitchen window and everybody jerked awake.

"Where are we?" Chopper asked.

"Smells weird." Usopp said.

SMACK!

"Ow! Nami-san?" Sanji said weakly.

"Shut up, Dart-Board face." Zoro said. Luffy just slept on.

It was a while before anybody realized Ia and Skie standing there in their pajamas.

"Ia-chan?" Sanji said happily and confusedly.

"Ia? Skie? Where are we?" Nami asked as she stood up.

"In our apartment." Ia said bluntly, holding her hand up as indicating the space in which she and Skie lived in.

"What's going on?" Chey asked, walking in, rubbing her eyes and spotting Zoro.

"Oh dear." Ia said.

"ZORO!" Chey screeched and jumped into his arms. He was completely unaware that she was there.

"Chey! You're here!" he said, smiling. Ia and Skie were looking at him funnily so he went back to a scowl.

There was a BAM on the door leading to the stairs and Ia opened it without moving. In came Cam and Zac. Looking irritated. Cam especially when he spotted Sanji.

"Hey, Sanji." Cam said menacingly, placing his arm around Ia's waist and drawing her a little bit closer to himself.

Sanji just glared subtly at Cam.

"What's going on here?" Zac asked, moving into the room to stand next to Skie, who was looking at Ian.

"They just appeared." Ia said, mainly to Cam.

"Where are we going to put them?" Skie asked, looking around.

"Oh, crap! That makes... 13 people now," Ia said bitterly. "We don't have enough room."

G-E-T-O-F-F-O-F-M-Y-C-L-O-U-D

Ia woke up the next morning cranky, groggy, and very irritated.

She walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen to get herself some Berry Cap'n Crunch.

"Morning, Ia!" Skie said cheerfully as she walked through the door.

"Meh." Ia said grouchily.

"You woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Skie said, getting the box of Cocoa Krispies and pouring herself some cerial.

"So." Ia snapped and took her bowl into her bedroom and slammed the door. Skie blinked when she did so and sat down at the table and watched TV from their little plasma screen hanging from the upper cabinets.

I-M-A-Y-H-A-T-E-M-Y-S-E-L-F-I-N-T-H-E-M-O-R-N-I-N-G

Skie could smell something amazing reaching up through the floor. It smelled like sausage and bacon and other wonderful breakfast foods.

She stood up zombie-like and went downstairs. In the kitchen of Ia's grandparent's house was Sanji cooking up a storm of delicious foods. Everybody, including Cam and Zac were waiting at the Dining room table before the kitchen for their food.

"What are you doing, Sanji?" Skie asked as she smelled the foods.

"Making breakfast!" he said sweetly.

"Where'd you get the food?"

"I got it at the store just right there!" Sanji said, poiting in the general direction of Bucks, to his right.

"Where'd you get the money?"

"Found it in the room that Cam and Zac were in."

Skie looked around and sighed, "That's Ia's grandpa's money." She said.

"Oh. Oh well, he won't miss it."

"How much was it?"

"It had a 50 on it?"

Skie raised her eyebrows.

"Where is Ia-Chan, anyway?" Sanji asked.

"Grumbling in her bedroom."

"Why?" Sanji yelled, snapping his neck towards Skie. "What did you do to her!"

"I didn't do anything. She's just in a dark place right now. She's got MB."

"M...B...?" he asked, very confused.

"Mindblockagemia." Skie said. When Sanji was still confused she said, "She's got writer's block." she said flatly.

Sanji nodded and picked up the skillet of sausage and walked into the dinging room but past the boys and up the stairs. Skie followed.

"Where are you going?"

"To cheer Ia-chan up." Sanji said as he entered the apartment.

"She probably won't want to see you. You might just let Cam, Chey, Zac or me do it."

"It's 'I'." Ia yelled through her door that Skie and Sanji were standing at.

"WHATEVER!" Skie yelled.

"Ia-chan!" Sanji called out sweetly. "Do you want some sausage!"

There was silence, "No." she called out.

Skie looked shocked, so did Sanji.

"W-why not?"

Ia said nothing.

"You better go, she might blow your head off or something." Skie said, pushing him to the door.

G-E-T-B-A-C-K

Sanji dropped the skillet of sausage onto the tablecloth and the boys dived after it.

"Skie, where's Ia? She'd usually have all of them?" Cam asked.

"Grumbling in her room." Skie said.

Cam got up and went upstairs without a word.

Cam made it up to Ia's bedroom door, which was locked.

"Ia-swan?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, not snapped.

"What's a matter?" he asked.

"Nothing." she snapped that time.

"Ia-swan?" he asked, a note of begging in his voice.

He heard Ia get up and unlock her door and open it. Her hair was lying as flat as shaken up pop. She had on her blue scotty dog pajama pants on still but was wearing her swim sweatshirt. She had her signature glare on her face as she asked, trying as hard as she could not to sound cranky, "Yes."

"Why are you cranky?" he asked.

"I don't... know." she said slowly.

He gave her a look of knowing she was lying. She then broke down.

T-E-A-R-S-O-N-M-Y-P-I-L-L-O-W

Skie stood in the dinging room. She was looking at Ian and the girl.

"Hey, Sanji. Who're they?" she asked.

"That's Ian and Izzy. They're Shank's kids. Ian came around when Ia was still here but about a week after Ia and them left, Izzy joined." Sanji said. He said the last sentence very bitterly, too, before going back into the kitchen.

Skie went and sat next to Ian.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Hey. I'm Ian." he said nicely.

"I'm Skie." she said, a little trance-like.

"This is my sister, Isabella." Ian said, pointing to Izzy.

"Hi! I'm Izzy! I'd prefer Izzy." she said brightly, cheerfully, and like a preppie girl from High School.

"Hi, Izzy." Skie said, a little distantly.

Zac was eyeing Skie and Ian the entire time they had a conversation. He was hunched over his plate like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

"What's with you." Zoro said, leaning back in his chair as it was on the two back legs.

"Skie's talking to that guy." Zac said severely.

"Who? Ian? He's ok." Zoro said, closing his eyes.

Zac continued to stare at him.

L-E-T-I-T-B-E

Ia sat on her bed.

Cam sat beside her.

"I feel sick." Ia said.

"Why?"

"I feel like I have a hangover." she said, placing her hand to her forehead lightly.

"Are you drinking?" he asked warningly.

"I'm underage!" she yelled.

Cam said nothing.

Ia took in and let out a very slow breath.

"You feeling better?" he asked, taking his arm off from around her shoulders.

"I guess." she said, shifting around and a pair of jeans fell to the floor. A chain peaked out of the back pocket and glinted in the sunlight pouring in from her window. "Oh, you know how you lost your necklace last year when we came back?" Ia asked, bending over to get the chain.

"Yeah. I told you it's in the lake." Cam said, looking a little depressed.

"Well, it had fallen off on the ship and Sanji had it!" she said, smiling while she held it up.

"How'd you get it?" he yelled with excitement.

"I managed to steal it from him!" she said slyly, smirking as she did so.

"You're the best!" he said, kissing her cheek.

Ia looked slightly guilty as he did so, "Yeah... I am." she said quietly to herself in a tone that said she didn't mean it.

* * *

Arn't I just the best! I mean, length wise, of course. This is on my Dell, 10 pages. Good God. Now... song time!

Get off of my cloud- The Rolling Stones

I May Hate Myself in the Morning- Lee Ann Womack

Get Back- The Beatles

Tears on my Pillow- Sha-na-na

Let it Be- The Beatles

7-15-07


	6. Truth of Kissing

Ok... here's chapter six. The last one was very long and I wasn't liking it so much. But, oh well.

-SIX-

Ia came into the living room of her grandparents house looking much more cheerful. She was wearing a long sleeved knit black shirt with a deep red short sleeved shirt over it and a pair of dark long jeans and was barefoot with her emo purple nail polish fresh on her toes. Her hair was half up half down and she was cheerful and happy.

"Ia, you look happy?" Skie asked, she was still next to Ian.

"I am. I feel not crappy anymore." she said, standing in-between Skie and Ian's chairs.

"Ia-chan! Would you like some sausage?" Sanji cried, coming heart-eyed out of the kitchen.

"No, I'm full." Ia said as Cam came up behind her.

Sanji glared at Cam and went into the kitchen with his nose in the air.

S-U-M-M-E-R-L-O-V-E

Luffy sat in the back yard of Ia's parents' house. He was indian style and in front of him was Troy. The little thing was just learning how to walk. Ia was there, sitting on the patio, overlooking Luffy and Troy. Next to her was Cam and in the other chairs were Nami, Sanji, and Izzy.

"He's so adorable!" Nami cried, looking at Troy. Troy had dark reddish-brownish hair and pale green eyes. He wasn't too cubby and had a smile that could get Zoro to go "AWWW!".

"He is. He kinda looks like I did when I was a baby." Ia said, smiling.

Nami gave Ia an odd look. "Are you sure he isn't yours?" she said, her eyes darting back and forth between her and Cam.

"I'm sure," Ia yelled. "Does he look like either of us?"

"You just said he looked like you did when you were a baby." Nami said in a matter-o-factly tone.

"He's-not-ours." Ia said sharply.

"Fine!" Nami said but Ia could tell (and knew because Nami was thinking it the entire time) that she didn't believe her.

Troy was sitting in front of Luffy as he pushed himself up. Luffy got on his knees and Troy gripped onto his fingers and started moving his legs in a walking motion. Luffy's eyes grew bigger as Troy took a step... then another step. Luffy followed.

"He's walking!" he cried.

"Where's your brother?" Cam asked, looking at Ia.

"Don't worry. He's walked before. Only once, though. And it was across the living room and SMACK into the TV."

The baby started walking around the entire yard and Luffy let go. The baby walked towards the patio but tripped on the edge of the cement walk. Everybody jumped up to catch him but he floated into the air and started giggling.

"Who's the cutes baby in zee world? You are!" Ia baby talked to Troy, who hung above her face.

T-I-N-Y-D-A-N-C-E-R

"He's my nephew!" Ia yelled at Nami as she was thinking that Troy was her son, again.

"Prove it." she said.

"Alright," Ia said. "This child is fiveteen months old." Ia said, holding up Troy with her mind.

"Yes."

"If I had him, he would have been born on the Going Merry." Ia said.

"Oh." Nami said quietly as Troy giggled.

Ia looked at the clock, "You should go back to the apartment. Sanji, could you make supper?" Ia asked.

"Of course, Ia-chan!" he said, bowing as they left the house and went across the street, without getting hit by a car, amazingly.

"The heck is with that Izzy person?" Ia asked as she placed Troy in his playpen with his Spider-Man toys.

"What about her?" Cam asked as she came back into the kitchen from the sauna-room where the playpen was. Mairzy was sniffing around the playpen and tried to jump in but being a tripod, she couldn't.

"She kept looking at you. With a look of interest!" Ia cried.

"You're probably just paranoid." Cam said, leaning against the counter.

"She was thinking about you, too," Ia said, a glare on her face. "Still thinking about you, too."

"Probably nothing. She doesn't know me."

"She doesn't know Skie or Zac or Chey. Yet she didn't think a single thing about either of them." Ia said, pointing it out as much as she could.

"What about you?" he asked, looking sideways at her.

"Oh, she was thinking about me!" she said with a note of annoyance. "She wanted to know why you were with me. Her exact thought were, 'She's so bitchy, how could he even stand her?'." she said in a nasally voice, mocking Izzy.

"She said that!" Cam said angrily, yet it didn't sound like he was truly angry.

"Thought that," she corrected. "And yes, she did. I could wring her neck. But I won't, cuz she's Ian's baby sister. And Ian's my friend, and I won't kill his sister, how much I would want to." Ia said as the her phone rang one of her favorite songs, How to Save a Life by The Fray.

"Hello?" she asked into the phone. "Where are you?" there was silence as whoever was talking to her spoke. "Seriously? You are so stupid!" more silence. Ia rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, FINE! I'm coming." she said and closed her red phone.

"Who was that?" Cam asked.

Ia rolled here eyes, "Erin. She's stuck in a ditch out on 480. I'll be right back." she said and raised herself onto her toes and kissed him and grabbed her keys and was out the door as her brother and sister-in-law came in the door. Cam went across the street to the apartment where Sanji was cooking up something that smelled very good. How Cam hated Sanji's guts.

Cam went upstairs to Skie and Ia's actual apartment and found Izzy in the living room.

"Hello?" he said, spotting Izzy sitting on the couch, looking at Skie's laptop.

"Oh! Hey!" she said as if she never expected him to come up but was actually waiting the entire time.

"What are you doing up here? Sanji's making supper?" Cam said, pointing his thumb towards the door.

"Uhg. I _despise _Sanji." she said severely.

"Why? He's such a ladies man." Cam said, his voice full of hate.

"That's it." she said shortly.

"You hate him because he's a ladies man?" Cam said but shrugged. "That's why I hate him."

Izzy cocked her head a bit in questioning.

"Yeah, he likes my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend." Izzy said with a venomous tone in her voice.

"Yeah, you know Ia?" he said.

"Oh, her. I know who she is. Ian talks about her a lot."

"He does?" Cam asked, sitting down on the other end of the couch opposite of Izzy.

"Yes. He had liked her before. He even kissed her!"

Cam felt as if he was punched in the gut. "W-when?" he asked, anger bubbling inside of him.

"Oh, when he first met her." Izzy said with a ghost of a smirk on her face. She was enjoying this.

Cam made a mental note to punch Ian's lights out later. "O-oh. Ia never told me."

"He said that she probably wouldn't. I mean, she was going out with you at the time- oops!" she said, obviously noticing her mistake now but she knew that she wasn't suppose to tell him, but she still did.

Cam had killing on the mind now, preferably Sanji and Ian now.

"Are you ok?" she asked, scooting closer to him.

"No. I'm going to kill your brother now, if you're ok with that." he said, fists clenched.

Izzy blinked, her long lashes flowed along with her eyelids. They were long, Cam had noticed. Thanking God that Ia was only paying attention to Izzy while they were outside. She would have heard what _he _was thinking...

Izzy scooted closer, her knee was now up against Cam's. She had her black boots off and he noticed she had small feet.

"You hate Ian now?" Izzy asked quietly.

"I guess." Cam said as quietly as Izzy.

"Do you hate her?" Izzy asked.

"Ye-" he started but didn't finish when they started kissing.

Ia walked in the door quietly and walked into the living room and her eyes caught on Izzy and Cam kissing on the couch.

Ia's eyes grew huge, she stopped breathing. She didn't know what to do so she ran out of the room and down the stairs.

Cam looked up to see what had made the sound but Izzy started kissing him again. More.

* * *

Holy crap! I wrote that without making the computer implode? Hum...

I have to thank someone, packardball! He gave me the idea for him to cheet on me! So I thank you for that and be warned, packardball. Cam might just come after you and kill you for giving me that idea! P

Well... sOnGtImE

Summer Love- Justin Timberlake

Tiny Dancer- Elton John

7-17-07


	7. You just don't Understand

AWKWARD MOMENT ROCK! AGREE OR DISAGREE? EXPLAIN IN REVIEW! YOU MUST TELL ME OR I WILL ASK THIS TILL SOMEONE DOES. GOT IT? KAY!

-SEVEN-

Zac found Ia at the bottom of the very steep set of stairs that led down to the very eerie and scary basement. He climbed down the stairs like a ladder becuase the stairs were that steep and saw that Ia's eyes were rimed with red.

"Ia?" he asked. Her head popped up, she had just realized that he was there.

"Zac, you scared the crap out of me," she said. He couldn't detect the note of tears in her voice. It was as steady as a rock, and slightly angry.

"Um... why are your eyes red?" he asked as she turned her head to face in front of her towards the rest of the basement that scared the living crap out of her.

Ia said nothing. "No reason." she said, wiping them with her sleeve but it turned out dry.

"Ah." Zac said, sitting down next to her.

"Why are you down here?" she asked.

"I saw the door was open a bit and the light was on." he said.

Ia took in a breath slowly, "Oh." she said and let it out.

"You know, if you wanted to be alone, you should have kept the light off." Zac said.

Ia stared at him with a look of 'are you insane?'. "Yah! I'll do that when my cousin, Hunter, stops picking his nose with his toung!"

There was silence as they heard the floorboards creak violently above them. Zac looked a little nervous that the entire floor was going to cave in but Ia looked completely calm and acted as if she didn't hear the creaks. He had a strong feeling that she didn't.

Ia looked around and stood up. She walked ahead of herself and into the next room beyond the first. Still of jagged stone walls and a cement floor. The dust was unbearable as Zac followed her into the last room where there were two walls and along them were two rows of books. Ia had sat on the table that was keeping them up and pulled one out.

"I didn't know this was down here?" Zac said, looking at the dust covered books.

"My gramps doesn't want people down here for good reasons. Lots of valuables he doesn't want us family to be touchin." Ia said as she placed the book back on the shelf.

"Wait, you hate this basement and won't come down here unless someone's with you. Why were you down here alone then?" Zac asked, turning to her as she slid off the table and froze. Everybody knew of her phobia with this basement. She claimed she and her cousins, Erin and Bobby, found a dead rat in the first room. Since then, she needed someone with her so she, in her words, 'didn't get attacked by the fricken rats'.

"Um... maybe I got over my phobia?" she said, laughing nervously as she shrugged and gave a guilty smile.

Zac gave her an incriminating look.

"Last Christmas, while getting the decorations, you spazzed and ran up the stairs and refused to go down there again."

"I saw a rat." she said shortly.

"Yet you're down here today."

She hesitated. "So. It's been a while!" she cried and quickly fled to the first room.

"Something's bothering you!" Zac said as he cornered her in the first room in the corner under the stairs near the creepy door that Ia had never ventured forth through.

Ia looked panicky as he stood infront of her, not letting her leave the corner.

"Get me out of here!" she whimpered.

"Not until you tell me." he said.

In her panicky state, she couldn't use her mind at all. It happened only when she got scared, panicked, was embarrassed, got injured, or when she got sick. A little cold to a 103 degrees flu with puking involved.

She stared at him and said, "He cheated on me." she said evilly and he moved. She leapt to the stairs and sat there in a fettle position.

"Cam did what?" Zac asked, astonished.

"Kissed _Izzy_." she said with death in her eyes.

"D-don't blow up Izzy's head." Zac said quickly, listening for a SPLAT and CRUNCH when she blew up someone's head.

"I wasn't going to. She'll have a much worse death!" she said, smirking evilly and rubbing her hands together in a menacing way.

"Don't kill her either." he said, taking her hands and holding them still.

"I'm not making any promises." she said warningly, looking him in the eye.

Zac said nothing.

Ia looked down subtly and said in a monotone, "Why are you holding my hands?"

He looked down and dropped them immediately.

I-W-A-N-T-T-O-H-O-L-D-Y-O-U-R-H-A-N-D

"He was kissing her?" Nami asked. She, Ia, and Chey were sitting at Baby Cakes in Marquette. Across from where Ia's mother worked as a Legal Secretary at the old City Hall. Ia was having her favorite, hot cocoa with a chocolate covered croissant. Chey was having tea and Nami was having coffee.

"Yes! I told you that six times!" Ia shouted, causing the girl at a nearby table look up from her laptop in surprise.

"But still. Was it lip locking or friend kiss?" Chey asked.

"They were sloppin spit all over each other!" Ia cried, putting a lot of stress on the word spit. Chiving as she said it.

"Seriously?" Nami asked, sipping her coffee.

"YES!"

"Alright! Take a chill pill." Chey said, as she tried to take a bit of Ia's croissant but Ia smacked her hand, hard.

"What are you going to do?" Nami asked, looking Ia in the eye.

"I'm planning and elaborate series of events that will lead to Izzy's untimely death!" Ia said evilly.

"Killing her won't solve your problem." Chey said wisely.

"So I get thrown into jail. At least he won't be able to kiss her!" Ia said, smirking evilly. "Or worse." she added.

"Do you know why she and Sanji hate each other?" Nami asked, leaning her forearms onto the table and coming closer to Ia.

"No?" she said, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

"She's a complete flirt. She and Sanji are exactly alike. That's why they can't stand each other." Nami said.

"She's a slut?" Chey asked.

"No! She just sweet talks every guy she sees. Like Sanji with every girl he sees?"

"I see." Ia said.

"She's a tramp." Chey said.

"Yeah, she is." Nami said, chuckling a little into her coffee cup.

B-E-A-U-T-Y-S-C-H-O-O-L-D-R-O-P-O-U-T

"I just hope Ia doesn't know." Cam said to Zac, later that day. They were walking around Teal Lake and there were a lot of people there that day. It was near 85 degrees and there were a lot of little kids around 6-10 and some teens around 13-16.

"Um... sure." Zac said, not looking at Cam.

"I mean, if she knew, she'd totally kill Izzy, you know what I mean."

"I know." Zac said, still looking ahead of himself as he avoided hitting a little girl in a pink swim suit with frills.

"Where is Ia anyway?"

"Marquette." Zac said quickly.

"How do you know that?" Cam asked, stopping Zac.

"S-she told me she was taking Nami and Chey to Baby Cakes." he said.

"Why'd she go to Baby Cakes?" Cam asked, giving Zac a weird look.

"She needed to talk to them."

"Without Skie?"

"Skie's with Ian." Zac said, a note of bitterness in his voice.

"Ahhh." Cam said, smirking slightly.

"So... why did you kiss Izzy in the first place?" Zac said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"I told you. She kissed me."

"You participated." Zac said as they continued walking.

"No, I didn't!" he yelled.

"Sounds like you did." Zac said.

"I wanna see Ia." Cam said suddenly.

"Don't, she's kinda... off right now." Zac said but it was too late. Cam had already gone. Zooming down the highway at 200 mph, heading towards Baby Cakes.

Ia stepped out of the café slowly. She was wearing a pair of black, two inches above the ankle, two inch heeled black boots with her red plaid skirt that fell to her knees like a school uniform. She had on a jet black tangtop that showed off her tattoo of red cherry blossoms on a branch on her shoulder, under it, in red, was her name (Ia) the way she wrote it in cursive with the curly line under it.

Nami, wearing a plain black skirt and a white top with sandals, and Chey, her black baggy capris with her dead cat shirt and her shoes with the bike lock on one of them, stepped out after her and were about to head up the street to SnowBound Bookstore when Cam sped up behind them.

"Ia!" he called. She turned sharply and seeing that it was him, stopped. With her arms folded.

"Ia! Arm's folded? What's wrong?" he asked.

"You tell me!" she snapped and turned on her two inch heal and sped off down the brick sidewalk, Chey and Nami at her heals. Cam followed up at Ia's side.

"What's a matter, Ia-swan?"

"Nothing! Nothing's the matter!" she snapped as she continued her brisk pace. Nami and Chey were having trouble trying to keep up with her.

"Then why are you storming around with your arms folded and avoiding me?" he asked as she crossed the street in a huff with him still at her side.

"No reason." she snapped again.

"Come on, tell me! You can trust me!"

"No, I don't think I can." she said, stopping and facing him.

"W-why?" he asked. Her shoes made her nearly two inches taller so she was near the same height as Cam, who was almost three inches taller than her.

"I caught you and a certain someone- ya know what. I'm just going to come out and say it. YOU WERE SLOPIN SPIT WITH IZZY!?" she screamed so half the street looked at them.

Cam froze, "Y-you saw?" he asked timidly, knowing what Ia could do.

"Yeah. I saw." she hissed.

Cam didn't know what to say that wouldn't anger Ia more. So he just said nothing. But his thoughts were racing about apologies, weak explanations, and excuses that a five-year-old could see through. In Ia's case, she was listening. Intently.

Ia gave him a mixed look of anger and annoyance.

"I'm sorry?" he said.

Ia closed her eyes and took a heavy breath.

"You know what, I don't care. She'll be gone soon anyway, and... I just don't care." she said and walked up the sloap towards snowbound books.

Cam smiled but felt that she wasn't being sincere. He decided he'd talk to her when she got home, if she hadn't already killed Izzy first.

* * *

Yet another very long chapter. How'd ya like it? Ah well...

WHO LIKES AWKWARD MOMENTS THAT THEY ARN'T A PART OF? I DO! I DO! I just want to come up behind them and whisper, "_Awkward moment_!"

SONGtime

I want to Hold your Hand- The Beatles

Beauty School Drop-Out- performed by Frankie Avalon in the movie Grease

7-18-07


	8. Unaceptable

Overkill... I love this song! Listen to it on YouTube! It's on Scrubs... so... you can guess why I'm listening to it...

Ohmygod! Today, I sat at MSHS (Marquette Senior High School) for an hour today because our coach never showed up! So all nine of us are sitting in the hallway talkin. It was funny because the guys I was sitting by started talking about chemicals. And then a story arose about a naked guy walkin around dead drunk and crashing into snowbanks. The police came and he beat the crap out of them! So, Caleb said he's now afraid because the police were being beat up by a naked drunk guy!

SEPTEMBER 6TH... MY BIRTHDAY! I'M 15!!!

-EIGHT-

For the next week, Cam and Ia avoided all contact with each other.

"Ia-chan!" Sanji called out one day around 1:30 in the afternoon. Ia was on the big swing with the canopy over it that her grandparents had when they had the house. She was in the front yard with her Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book.

"Yes, Sanji?" Ia asked, looking up from her book. Sanji came down from the porch and brought her a plate of purple grapes, fresh raspberries, and unnaturally large blueberries. You know, the ones the size of your thumbnail?

"Uh? What's all this for?" she asked, sitting upright and closing her book and placing it down gently on a pillow that was next to her on the swing.

"To cheer you up! I know these are all your favorite fruits!" he said, getting on one knee and holding out the platter and smiling nicely.

"That's sweet, but still. I'm fine!" She said, putting on a grin.

Sanji cocked his head slightly and looked at her grin. "I don't think so." he said.

"What do you mean? I'm fine!" she said and took a grape and popped it into her mouth.

"If you were fine with it you'd be with Cam right now." he said a little bitterly.

Ia stared at him.

"I'm right! Arn't I!" Sanji said excidedly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ia said serenely.

"Ah ha!" Sanji yelled. "Are you going to tell me why you are upset?" he asked.

"No?" Ia yelled like he was stupid.

He knew she would say that, so he pulled out a bottle that he had hid behind him.

When he brought out the green bottle, Ia's eyes grew huge. Her shifty eyes followed it as he moved it side to side.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"N-no?" she said weakly.

"Skie told me she has you going Cold Turkey on Mountain Dew! You want some?"

"Mustn't... drink... Mountain Dew..." she said as he twisted the cap ever so slightly and the loud SSSSSSS escaped. He opened up the bottle and held it at his lips and was about to take a drink when it was snapped out of his hands and Ia was guzzling it down like she hadn't had a drink in a month.

"Tell me?" he said carefully.

"Alright." she said. She was easy to negotiate with when she had Mountain Dew in her system.

She told Sanji the entire story down to every last detail.

"He was _kissing_ her?" Sanji said in total disgust. She knew how much he despised Izzy.

"Yes, he was. I told him that I was ok with it." Ia said.

"You're never ok with anything!" Sanji said, laughing. "You still arn't ok with the time you were kidnapped and they brainwashed you and died your hair black."

"I was kidnapped! Who could be ok with being kidnapped!?" Ia yelled.

H-E-A-L-M-E-I-M-H-E-A-R-T-S-I-C-K

That night, Cam lay awake. It was 3:32 in the morning and he'd been awake for four hours. He wanted to talk to Ia, but she'd been ignoring him the entire week. It was now the beginning of August. It had grown quite warm. He laid there thinking of Ia. Little did he know that Ia was laying in her bed wide awake, thinking of him.

**Next morning...**

Ia sat at her desk typing at 7:34 that morning. Since it was so hot, she was in her tang top and blue scotty dog pajama pants. Her hair was pulled up into a makeshift ponytail with the two locks falling into her face. She had a glass of Mountain Dew in her hand. There was a knock at her door.

She looked up in surprise. She didn't expect anybody at that time. She got up and walked the short walk to the door and opened it. Standing there was Cam.

"What are you doing up so early?" she asked as she stood there. Her bare feet standing on the fuzzy purple rug on the hard wood floor. Her hand steady on the doorknob. The other holding the glass half full of Mountain Dew. Her big brown eyes looking into his.

He pulled out a long black box from behind him and opened it to show a silver chain with a sterling silver charm that was of a Chinese dragon on it.

"I'm so sorry." he said.

Ia stared at the necklace. He knew she'd been wanting that thing since she saw it at the mall one day a few years ago.

"Do you always get me something when you apologize?" she asked, looking up at him with her big eyes.

"I love the look you have when I get you something." he said, smiling slightly.

Ia smiled too. But it faded quickly.

"It's not going to work this time." she said, not looking at him at all, but at the floor near her.

"W-why?" he asked.

"I just don't know if I can trust myself trusting you telling me you're sorry!" she cried, looking up at him. She shook her head and gave him a fleeting look and closed the door slowly.

* * *

See that coming? Short chapter, I know. Arn't I just so mean? This wasn't in the plot line... what's going to happen? Do YOU know?

SONgtIME

Heal Me, I'm Heartsick- No Vacancy


	9. Rain Makes Everything Better

Alright... after, like, a week of not writing. I'll write. I'm obsessed with MySpace... but I don't have a problem. Everybody else under the age of 70 has a MySpace (minus my brother and parents)

-NINE-

"You DUMPED him?" Skie yelled later that morning.

"I did not!" she yelled fiercely. "I just didn't take his apology." Ia said simply.

"That's like the same thing." Skie said.

Ia gave her the look. Skie recoiled a bit.

"All I'm saying is that if you two are still together, you just tore his heart apart."

"You should talk," Ia muttered as Skie left the bedroom.

Y-E-S-T-E-R-D-A-Y

Sanji was gazing at Nami as they and the rest of the crew sat outside, waiting for Ia, Skie, Zac, Cam, and Chey to come out of the house.

"What's taking them so long?" Ian asked as he leaned against the white picket fence. Izzy standing near him looking like an innocent school girl, her hair pinned up.

"Ahh. I'm hungry!" Luffy whined. He was hanging from his knees on the lowest branch of the huge pine tree that was in the corner of the front yard.

"You just ate breakfast a half hour ago." Zoro said.

"I know." Luffy said. Usopp was sitting directly below Luffy. He was looking at the pine needles with interest.

"Ready to go?" Skie asked as she burst out of the porch and the screen door slammed shut behind her.

"YES!" Usopp and Luffy shouted. Luffy fell from his point in the tree and landed on Usopp.

"Ok! So..." she said as she counted how many people there were. "Since there are eight of you guys, and two cars..."

"We're never going to fit." Ia said, coming out from the porch.

"We'll fit." Skie said.

"Alright. Uh... Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, and Ian will come with Zac and me. Skie, you'll have-"

"Wait, why's Zac going with... oh." Skie said slowly.

"So, Skie, you'll have Zoro, Izzy, Chopper, and Nami, Cam and Chey." Ia said as she separated them into groups.

Skie looked mad. "Why do I have most of them?" she yelled.

"Because you have the bigger car." Ia said plainly, causing Skie to get even more angry.

"Zoro, Izzy, Nami, you'll be in the back. Chopper, you're up front with me and Cam."

"Cam and me." Ia called out from behind her.

Skie rolled her eyes.

"Is... it safe?" Izzy asked, glancing at her brother.

"Ia, shouldn't I go with Izzy? To make sure she's ok?"

Ia looked at Izzy who was standing next to Skie's car.

"She's fine. Skie's a good driver, for the most part." Ia said.

"What happened?"

"While during Drivers, she... kinda... ran into the gym after flooring it up the hill."

"What happened?!" Ian yelled.

"Nothing. She just broke the bumper. I had to stop the car."

Ian looked petrified at the thought of Izzy going into the same car that Skie was driving.

Cam and Zac then came out of the house and onto the front lawn.

"Zac, get in my car, you're coming with me." Ia said as she went over to where Sanji, Luffy, Ian, and Usopp were standing. "Alright, Luffy, you're in the front with Zac and me. No touching anything. Sanji, Ian, Usopp. You're in the back. Again, no touching anything." she said as they sat down in the car. Luffy in the middle in the front.

"Why can't we use the four cars?"

"You totaled your's two weeks ago. It's still in the shop?" Ia said, turning to him. They were the exact same height, which bothered Ia to the highest. She was either taller (in the case of Skie and Chey) than them or shorter (in the case of Cam) but with Zac, it's the same height. Though, she always said she was taller.

"What about Cam's?" Zac said, trying to reason with her but it wasn't working.

"Where is it?"

"Uh..." Zac hesitated. "Not here." he said quietly.

"Exactly." Ia said as she got into the drivers seat of the car.

C-A-N-T-D-R-I-V-E-5-5

"Where are we going?" Luffy asked from right next to Ia.

"We're going to Presque Isle."

"AN ISLAND!" Luffy shouted in excitement, bouncing up and down.

"No. Well, yes it is... but a different kind of island. You can play there. They've got this amazing tire swing!" Ia said.

"Why is Sanji in here with you?" Zac asked, looking in his rear view mirror and seeing Sanji with a heart eye towards Ia, who was driving.

"I don't know. Giving Nami a break." Ia said.

"Why are you the only girl in here?"

Ia was silent for a bit when she yelled, "FRICK! I should have been in the car with Skie! That would have been just terrific for Zoro!" Ia said with a high pitch in her voice.

"He would have been happy." Zac said, laughing slightly at the thought.

Ia didn't say anything and kept her eyes on the road. They were driving down County Road 492 from Negaunee to Marquette. They had split from Skie's car as she was going down US 41 to Marquette. The faster way, yet the most annoying. Ia preferred the old road.

"What's that!" Luffy called out, pointing to something on the side of the road.

"That's a deer." Ia said.

"What's that!" he yelled, pointing out of Zac's window this time.

"That's a house." he said.

Luffy cocked his head and had a confused look on his face.

"What's that!" he yelled, as he pointed out the windshield window this time.

"That's a Semi truck." Ia said as a huge Log Truck came barreling down the road past her.

"What's that!"

"A piece of garbage." Ia said, getting very irritated with Luffy.

F-R-E-E-B-I-R-D

Skie was driving her car down US 41 with Cam next to her. In the back was Zoro next to Chey, who was gazing at him with huge puppy dog eyes and behind them was Izzy who was next to Chopper. She looked throughly board as she gazed out the tinted window at the cars and semi's coming down the road at 65 mph.

"Why won't Ia even talk to me?" Cam yelled.

"She can't trust you." Skie said as she turned the wheel when the curve in the road came along and they passed under the rail road bridge above the highway.

"She can trust me! We've been able to trust each other since Freshman year!" he yelled.

Skie looked fleetingly back and forth but kept her eyes on the road. "It's Izzy." she hissed so Izzy two rows behind her couldn't hear her say that.

"She doesn't like... her?" Cam asked, leaning in so he could hear her.

"She hates her. She can't trust her, too. In her exact words, 'She's a fleeting slut, how can anybody trust her?'." Skie said with a note of annoyance in her voice as she said it, as if she was getting real tired of Ia complaining about Izzy.

"Never knew Ia to say anything like that." Cam said.

"You should hear her when she's really mad. Oh my God, I think she made up half those swears!" Skie said a little frightened and insecure.

M-E-A-N-T-I-M-E

Ia and her group reached the Island first. She parked near Matson Park and Luffy was the first to go on the tire swing. It was suspended on it's side and was on a ball and socket joint so it moved around freely.

Luffy sat on it, but didn't know how. So he fell right through the hole when they pushed him. So, like always, Ia stole the swing and had everybody push her till she fell off, laughing. That's when Skie and her group showed up.

"How'd you get here before me!?" she yelled as they moved down the slope from the parking lot to the park. The small waves hit the boats in the marina and the smell of gasoline and lake water reached their noses.

"I'm special!" Ia said, smirking as she did so. Chopper was being put into the swing and Luffy reeled it up as far as it would go by stretching his arms and forced it down. It swung madly around, nearly hitting a little girl with blond hair and brown eyes. Chopper was screaming the entire time. They just watched.

After a while of watching Luffy run around the huge play structure that was Matson Park, Skie walked over to where Ia was sitting on the swing and sat on the swing next to her.

"Yes?" Ia asked, turning slightly to face Skie.

"He misses you. He told me to tell you that." Skie said.

Ia stared at her.

"Arn't you going to say anything?" Skie yelled.

"Nope." Ia said with a note of sarcasm in her voice.

"You're so insensitive." Skie said forcefully.

"Am I?" Ia yelled.

"Yes! You could at least talk to him. Find out what's wron-"

"No. Nothing's wrong between us. It's what's in the form of a girl who I'm thinking about shoving into the slide and when she's unconscious, I'll push her off the dock and watch her sink and wait till the last...bubble...pops." Ia said slowly at the end.

Skie stared at her with a look of fear mixed with freaked out. "You're demented." she said.

"I've figured that out." Ia said bitterly as she spun slightly on her swing, not facing Skie now.

"Can't you put that behind you?"

Ia was silent once more. Thinking.

"Can't you?" Skie asked.

Ia still didn't say anything, but stood up and walked over to the shore and stared at the oar boat coming next to the giant oar docks that loaded iron oar onto the boats so they could sail down to Chicago and Detroit to the steel mills.

Skie watched her and shook her head.

K-R-Y-P-T-O-N-I-T-E

Dark clouds rolled into Negaunee nearing midnight. Ia was sitting out on the big swing, with her laptop, no less. She didn't realize what time it was.

"Rain. Nice!" she said happily. She loved rain beyond a lot of things. In front of sleeping and behind Marching Band.

She closed the laptop and walked into the front shed just beyond the enclosed porch and was climbing the stairs when she remembered she left her sweat shirt out on the swing.

Placing her laptop on the stair and walking back down them and out the doors to the swing, she felt raindrops on her arms and neck.

A sudden clap of thunder caused her to scream in surprise. Though it sounded more of fear. The fear that she had as a kid of thunder storms sometimes crept back up when a big one hit or she was outside in it or just whenever she felt vulnerable.

She turned around to see Cam standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the porch. Just as completely wet as she was.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, smiling slightly as she moved nearer to him.

"I saw you were out here."

"I'm fine." she said as another clap of thunder hit the town so hard that everything shook. Ia flinched and shivered slightly.

Cam moved towards her this time.

Ia faced the sky and let the rain hit her face.

"I'm retarded." she said after a while.

"No, you're not."

"Yes. I am." she said forcefully, moving her head down to face him. Rain drops teared down her face and fell to the now wet grass.

"No-"

"Yes! I am. I let it get to me, which was retarded in it's self. I'm sorry." she said.

He stared at her. "You still want her to die?" he asked.

She cracked a smile. "Of course I do, you know me!" she said, smiling.

Lightning flashed, causing the street lights to turn off and thunder clapped as they stood there, kissing in the rain.

* * *

HA! I finished it! I like romance! Now that they're back together, I can do more humor...

SONgTimE

Yesterday- The Beatles

Can't Drive 55- Sammy Hagar

Freebird- Lynard Skynard

Mean Time- Flat Broke Blues Band

Kyrptonite- 3 Doors Down

7-29-07 1:15 AM


	10. Izzy Intervienes

Blah blah blah. I don't know what to write... so I'll just wing it. God, I can't type either...

-TEN-

Ia walked into the apartment and shut the door quietly and leaned up against the door and slid down it to the floor. Smiling to herself as she did so with her eyes shut.

Izzy looked up slightly from where she was pretending to be asleep. She saw Ia sit there smiling for a minute or two before she got up and went into the bathroom.

Izzy turned over onto her back and stared at the ceiling in frustration. What could have made her that happy?

"What could have?" she whispered.

"Wha?" Nami asked from the other side of the coffee table.

"What could have made Ia so happy?"

"What do you mean? You don't like it when she's happy?" Nami asked but they quickly laid back down. Ia came out of the bathroom, with the grin still on her face and went into her bedroom.

"Well, if she's happy, then something happened!" Izzy cried in a whisper so not to wake Chey who was on the couch.

"Like?" Nami asked, leaning on her forearms that were on top of the glass coffee table.

"I don't know. What if she got back together with Cam?" Izzy said with a note of suspicion.

"So?" Nami asked, yawning.

"She can't. I was trying to get them apart!"

Nami cocked an eyebrow. "Why?" she asked.

"I don't like her." Izzy hissed.

"In other words, you like him." Nami said.

Izzy glared at Nami.

"Too bad. He likes Ia. Nothing will break them apart." Nami said as she laid back down to go to sleep.

"I can sure as hell try." Izzy said as she also laid down.

D-R-I-F-T-O-F-F-T-O-D-R-E-A-M

"What do you mean, you won't be here?" Cam asked Ia as she packed her suitcase for the trip she was going on with her parents.

"I'm kinda going to Minneapolis! It's not my fault!" Ia yelled as she threw in a causal shirt and placed her good shirts on top. "I go on one every year, just not to the same place. Last year it was Duluth!" Ia said.

Cam looked sullen.

"I'll be back on the fourth." Ia said and kissed him and left her room with her suitcase and bag following her in mid air.

Cam went and sat in the living room, still looking sullen.

"You wern't this mad last year?" Chey asked, coming in with a sandwich. "Why are you mad?"

"I don't like it when she leaves."

"I do." Zoro said, coming to sit with Chey on the couch.

"You also don't live with her." Chey said.

"I know. And I couldn't be happier!" he said and took her sandwich and took a huge bite out of it.

"We just made up and now she's leaving!"

"You make it sound like it's forever." Skie said, walking into the room with wet hair and the faint smell of something flowery.

"Why do you smell so... _nice_?" Zoro asked, clearly disgusted by that.

"I ran out of conditioner and had to use Ia's. It smells like some sorta flowers." Skie said, sitting down on the couch next to Zoro who was cuddling with Chey. Skie tried to mask the look of hate.

"Hey, you guys. Have any of you seen Izzy?" Ian asked, sitting down next to Skie and looked at her.

"No. I haven't." Cam said but Ian didn't respond. "Ian?" Cam asked and then remembered something but resisted hitting him in public.

"You have really pretty eyes." he told Skie, completely forgetting that any of them were in the room.

"Thanks!" she said, giggling.

Chey was beaming while Zoro was looking disgusted. Cam was just staring.

"I forgot something-" Ia said, popping back into the room as Ian said, "You have a beautiful smile, too!" Skie giggled some more.

Ia stared but then beamed.

"Ia, you forgot something?" Cam said through gritted teath.

"Oh... yeah... what was it... soap!" she said and ran into the bathroom and out again carrying an armful. One was her shampoo, one was her conditioner, one was her body wash, and the last was her blue luffa sponge thingy.

"Ok, now I'm gone. Bye, you guys!" she said as she went out the door as Izzy was coming in.

"Where are you going with all that... stuff." Izzy said slowly.

"I'm going on a trip. I'll be back next month." Ia said and went out the door. Izzy took a step and tripped over nothing. They could hear Ia laughing riotously down the stairs.

S-P-I-K-E-I-S-L-A-N-D-L-A-S-S-E-S

"Hey, Cam!" Izzy said, sliding up to him as he sat on the couch in Ia and Skie's apartment. Only him, Chey, Skie, Zac, Izzy, and Zoro were up there. Sanji, Nami, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were downstairs, not breaking anything as they hadn't heard a loud crash at all.

"Hello." he said, not paying attention to her.

"What's the date today?" she asked sweetly, leaning closer to him.

"It's the 27th. Why?" he asked, not really paying attention to her, but the TV. Scrubs was on.

"Oh. I've been here for more than a month and you haven't really paid any attention to me?" she asked sweetly like she was flirting with him.

"I haven't paid any more attention to anybody else?" he asked, actually looking at her this time.

"But I'm pretty!" she snapped suddenly, loosing all her girlish flirty charm she was trying to hold on him. "I'm fit, a good kisser, _and my hair is its natural colour_!" she hissed.

"I don't care that she wasn't born with red hair. She is a good kisser." Cam said.

Izzy looked horrified and swept up and left the room.

Cam watched her leave, and continued to watch Scrubs.

T-H-I-N-K-O-F-M-E

Izzy sat in the kitchen, anger welling around inside of her.

"Iz. You ok?" Ian asked, coming in.

"I'm fine." she huffed, looking away. She was sitting on the counter next to the sink. She stared at the cabinets on the opposite wall of the doorway.

"You upset that your girlish charm wouldn't work on him?" Ian asked, sitting next to her on the counter.

"Something's not right with that boy." Izzy said strictly.

"He's taken!" Ian said in her ear loud and clear.

"I've charmed married men before!" Izzy said proudly.

"You were in a bar. They were drunk, what do you expect?" Ian asked, being serious now.

"Fine. I'll stop flirting with him."

"Good! Go for Sanji."

Izzy spun her head slowly around towards his smiling face. "I'd rather poison myself, then near drown me and then hang me and when I'm chocking for air, cut my head off, shoot my body in the heart, and cut out my toung and have tribal villagers eat it over a fire pit!" she said in one breath and drew in a big one.

Ian blinked and shook his head and left the room.

* * *

Interesting chapter...

SONGtime...

Drift off to Dream- Travis Tritt

Spike Island Lasses- by Jeff Victor

Think of Me- from Phantom of the Opera, Emmy Rossum

8-7-07


	11. Up Front

I just got inspiration!!! Ha ha ha... thank you, Skie!

-ELEVEN-

"You look like you died?" Skie asked, coming into the apartment with a fresh load of her laundry in a violent purple basket. It was consisted of folded jeans. Just jeans.

"I did." Cam said, not getting up from the floor in front of the entrance to the living room.

Skie rolled her eyes and went into her bedroom.

"Did someone die?" Zoro asked, his head appearing in the doorway, looking excited.

"No one died, Zoro, go away." Skie said from her bedroom and Zoro caught sight of Cam laying in a dead like fashion on the floor. Chey, Zac, Nami, Izzy, and Chopper were in the living room watching TV. Not much on.

"I still don't see how your sad about _her _being gone?" Zoro said, stepping fully into the doorway.

Cam glared at him.

C-A-R-R-Y-O-N-M-Y-W-A-Y-W-O-R-D-S-O-N

It was the 4th, the day Ia said she would get back, and she still wasn't there.

"Stop worrying, she's fine. I think we would know if she was hurt or not?" Ian said as Cam paced the kitchen.

"This isn't some story with a happy ending!" Cam yelled, and continued pacing.

Ian shrugged and Cam stopped and stared at Ian. "Why are you so dressed up?" he asked, pointing to the black sport coat, nice pants, and nice shirt under the sport coat. Ian's hair was washed and brushed and looking nice and he was clean shaved and his teeth were unbearably white.

"Oh, I'm... uh... going out!"

"Where?" Cam asked, looking confused.

"Out-" Ian said and without trying to explain, walked swiftly out of the room.

A little while later, Cam looked out the front window and saw Ian getting into the passenger side of a car and speeding off down Teal Lake Ave, passing a silver car pulling up infront of the church across the street and someone with a suitcase getting out.

Everybody, minus Cam, Ian, and Skie, were at Teal Lake still, it being evening and all.

Cam ran down the stairs at a quick pace and as Ia was coming in the front brown door, Cam was at the bottom of the stairs.

"IA CHAN!" he yelled and hugged her quickly before she even got to say anything her self.

"Miss me much?" she said, laughing slightly, hugging him back.

"Yes!"

"Where is everybody?" Ia asked, once she got her stuff into her room, (she never unpacked till a few days later) sitting down on the couch next to Cam.

"Teal Lake, but Skie and Ian are somewhere else. Ian just left as you pulled up."

Ia closed her eyes and said, "Oooo! He and Skie are on a _date_! He took her to Up Front! Awww- how come I never get to go to Up Front?" she asked, loosing her adored tone to an accusing annoyed tone.

"A date?" Cam asked.

"Up Front. We should watch." Ia said.

"Why?" Cam asked, looking at Ia.

"I don't know... I'm board."

D-I-N-N-E-R-I-S-S-E-R-V-E-D

Ian and Skie got a private table on the terrace overlooking the ships in the docks on Lake Superior. It was a very hot night, being just getting out of August. The humidity wasn't so bad so it was a very nice night.

Skie was wearing a nice pair of pants and a nice top, midnight blue with rhinestone embroidery on the right collar bone.

Ian pulled out her chair for her and let her sit before he sat, being a gentleman.

"Nice night, huh?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice steady. It was hard when Skie was sitting so close to him, he could feel her shoes a centimeter away from his.

"Yeah, it's really pretty!" Skie said, thanking God that it was evening and the semi darkness could hide her blush.

"Do you know what you would like, miss?" the waitress asked. The waitress had light blond hair and a heart shaped, pretty face. She wasn't too tall and was wearing a white waist apron with black pants and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbow, like all the other waiters and waitresses.

"Um... just root beer for now, Ian?" Skie asked.

"Water." he said as he looked at the menu.

The waitress took this order and walked off along the empty terrace. The heat had dragged everybody else inside but Skie and Ian were use to the heat, being on the Going Merry before. They were use to this extreem kind of temperature. Well, for where they were right now, it wasn't as hot as Negaunee. Negaunee was at 98 (a record setting temp) while Up Front was at a nice 89 with a lake breeze. Being so close to Lake Superior.

The waitress went back inside to where another two waitresses were standing. One had short orange hair and the other had short auburn hair.

"Well, what's going on, Izzy?" Nami asked as the waitress with the light blond hair walked up and placed the orderslip onto a small, stainless steel window ledge leading to the kitchen.

"Not much, he's nervous." the blond said as her hair slowly darkened to red, her eyes back to blue.

"Does Ian know about your powers?" Chey asked as a root beer and a water appeared at the little ledge.

"Um... you could say 'no' and you could say... He doesn't."

"How long have you had them again?" Nami asked, she, being the only person on the crew who knows about Izzy's powers.

"Since I was three, Nami. I was three, Ian was five. We were playing near our mother's house and these Pirates ran past us and one of them dropped a fruit. Ian had ran back to mom's house but I was brave enough to stay. I ate it and didn't tell anyone. I figured out what it was around the time I was ten. Mom had just died and Ian and I were on our way to meet up with dad. I started changing my hair colour and I found out I could change my entire appearance! I gotta go," she said, back to looking like the blond haired girl.

Izzy passed a large table in the back corner of the small, but elegant, room of Up Front. Sitting there, acting very very nice, was Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji. Chopper was back at the house, keeping an eye on Ia and Cam.

"Why are we here again?" Zoro asked, more like grunting.

"Because Izzy wants to spy on her brother. It'll annoy Skie." Usopp said.

Zoro grinned and looked at the menu as an attractive looking waitress came over to take their orders.

"What would you like tonight, boys?" Chey asked as she got over there.

"Ribs, chicken... bleu thing, ham, and this nice looking lake trout." Zoro said and handed her the menu.

"Izzy says not much is happening." she whispered into Zoro's ear seductively as she passed to Sanji.

I-M-N-O-T-T-H-A-T-G-I-R-L

Izzy walked out into the night air as the white christmas lights were turning on in the ivy wrapping around the building. Skie and Ian were laughing over in their little secluded spot of night. A light and refreshing breeze was blowing on them. Izzy straightened her face to shoe indifference as she brought over the drinks.

"Are you ready to order yet?" she asked politely as she set the drinks down.

"Yeah, I'll have the special and Skie?"

"The special, too, please!" she said and they both handed Izzy their menues.

"It'll be right out!" she said and walked back into the restaurant part. There were only the guys' table and another table occupied.

"Here." she said and put the little note on the little ledge and it was taken by another hand.

"Anything new?" Chey asked as her orders were given to her two at a time.

"No. Did all the guys order that?" Izzy asked.

"This is Zoro's order." Chey said, hiding her pride as she walked over to the table and put the tray of many dishes in front of Zoro.

"So, can you change your height and age and stuff?"

"Well, I can make myself look younger or older," Izzy said and she started shrinking. Her hair turned from the light blond to a dark brown. Her green eyes to silver. She looked like a ten-year-old.

"Nice!" Chey said as Izzy tried to walk in too big clothes.

Sanji looked up to look at what Nami and Chey were admiring and his heart skipped a beat, his stomach dropped about a couple stories... he stared at Izzy's form right then and nearly stopped breathing.

It was her...

Izzy was now back to her self that she was waitressing as and she grabbed the two orders and brought them out to the terrace.

"Here you are, your orders!" she said as she handed them both the special and walked to the French doors the lead inside but stayed behind a little bit of the brick that stuck out of the wall and hid herself, but was still able to hear their conversation.

"So what is it like to be Shanks's son?" Skie asked.

"Nothing special. He's overprotective. To this day I still can't handle the sails or anything high up. I had to run away from the ship, which is how I came to Luffy's ship. I ran into Ia and she kinda rescued me from my dad's ship!" Ian said as he forked his food and put it into his mouth.

"Oh, overprotective?" Skie asked.

"Yeah. But, it's weird, he's more overprotective over me than Izzy, it's weird?"

Izzy smirked, she knew why, she hadn't been with their dad as much as Ian has. She went to their grandfather on their mother's side after their mom died till she was 12, then she went off on her own and did random odd jobs before she was reunited with their dad again when she was 16 ½. She ran away, a little before her brother, 6 months later and found the Straw Hat's, and her brother, after two months of ship hopping. Since their dad had Ian more than Izzy, he wanted to keep one of them safe. And Izzy reminded him too much of their mother. Same wild and untameable personality as their mother had.

"Not much happens around here," Skie started, "It didn't really get interesting till I was sucked into your world." she said.

"How did you get sucked into my world?" Ian asked, after taking a sip of water.

"Well, I was in school and a cyclone appeared... I got sucked into it..." Skie said, trying to remember so long ago when so much had happened inbetween.

"Are you ok?" Ian asked.

Skie smiled, "I'm fine! I'm here, arn't I?"

"That's true!" Ian said, chuckling a bit.

Izzy mimed gagging for a little bit.

There was silence.

Izzy got confused and looked around the pillar and saw Ian and Skie kissing across the table.

Izzy's face fell and she shuffled inside.

"What's a matter?" Nami asked as Izzy shuffled in, her hair slowly going back to red, her eyes changing back to their sapphire blue shade.

"They're kissing."

"Awww!" Chey said loudly.

Izzy's head dropped and then she felt Nami and Chey grab one of her arms and pull her behind them and turn around.

Izzy peaked through the gap between Nami and Chey's heads and saw Skie and Ian come in from the terrace.

W-I-L-L-A-N-D-E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H

They had to hurry so they wouldn't be suspected if they got home after Skie and Ian.

Izzy was gazing out the window as they sped along US 41 back towards Negaunee. Unfortunate for her, she had to share the very back seat with Sanji.

"Hey... uh... Izzy?"

She didn't say anything but turned her head to him, her face indifferent.

"Um... when you turned yourself into that ten-year-old girl?"

"Yeah?" Izzy said.

"Um... I don't know how to say this... but...?"

"Spit it out, Sanji!" Izzy said forcefully.

"Bella?"

* * *

Do you know what this means? I DO!!! 

Yeah, if any of you noticed that they sent someone home knowing full well that Cam and I were there, yeah. This'll make sense to Cam, cuz we both hate this, no one leaves us alone. NO ONE DOES!!!

Can you believe me!? I actually wrote something before the year ended! OH MY GOD I'M SO SPECIAL!

12-29-07!!!

sONGtIME

Carry On My Wayword Son- Kansas  
Dinner is Served- POTC Dead Man's Chest  
I'm Not That Girl- Wicked  
Will and Elizabeth- POTC Curse of the Black Pearl


	12. All I Ask of You

So adorable! I know...

-TWELVE-

Izzy froze when she heard that name again after so long.

"S-Sanji... how do you... how do you know that name? That was the name my mother always called me. Before she... died." Izzy said.

"If you hadn't changed in front of me I wouldn't have believed it. Don't you remember me, Bella?"

Izzy stared at him as if he were crazy. This was Sanji! The guy that she hated with a fierce intensity... right? He hated her too... right?

"Don't you remember... the Baratie? I was 13..."

FLASH BACK! (is overdone)

_Sanji walked into Zeff's office and saw the prettiest girl he'd ever seen before in his lifetime. She had long dark brown hair and silver eyes. She was wearing a plain dirty brown dress with cheep brown boots. She was a bit dirty and was holding a small suitcase._

"_Sanji, this is Bella. Bella, this is Sanji."_

_Bella didn't say much of anything but gave Sanji eye contact and went back to staring at the floor. _

"_She'll be staying here, now. Show her the ropes." Zeff said and Bella left the room but Zeff stopped Sanji before he could._

"_Now, no funny business, that there is my granddaughter. Her mother, my Illiana, has just died and I'm all she has left now, got it?" _

"_Yeah yeah yeah," Sanji said and left to go back to the kitchen._

"_You know how to cook?" Sanji asked the 10-year-old as Bella was rolling up her sleves and washing her hands and arms. _

"_Yeah. Living in 15 different places in ten years, you tend to pick some stuff up!" she said, smiling. Her brown hair was now pulled back into a tight ponytail and Sanji could really see her silver eyes now. _

"_So, all you have left in your family is the crap-geezer, huh." Sanji said and heard a loud sniff from Bella. "Oh, sorry, wasn't try-"_

"_Oh, no. It's not that. I'm cutting up onions." Bella said, smiling. "Grampa isn't my only family." she said._

"_Then why did you come here?" Sanji asked._

_Bella stopped. "I don't know? My brother, he's your age, went to go look for our dad and I decided I didn't want to be with him anymore so I went to find grampa. He doesn't know about my brother or my dad." Bella said as she continued to chop onions, place them into the soup, and started grating up some cheese. _

"_Oh. I don't have any family. Zeff rescued me from a shipwreck and we built this together." Sanji said, not really caring._

"_Sounds like fun!" Bella said sarcastically._

"_Hey, heard of an All Blue?"_

_Bella looked up and said, "That sound familiar,"_

"_Well, it's an ocean where all four oceans combine! I'm gonna find it!"_

"_Good luck with that." she said, smiling._

_END FLASHBACK! (is STILL overdone)_

"Grampa never knew about Ian... he knew I was his granddaughter because I looked exactly like my mother. If I looked like I do now... he might not have taken me in." Izzy said, remembering everything now.

"Does Ian know about this?" Sanji asked.

Izzy smiled, "I could write a ten volume series on everything Ian doesn't know about me!" she laughed.

"Some big brother he is."

W-E-L-C-O-M-E-T-O-T-H-E-F-A-M-I-L-Y

They burst through the door of the house and scrambled inside. Izzy, Chey, and Nami ran upstairs while the rest ran into the main floor.

"Here they come!" Usopp said as he watched Skie pull up infront of the house. They took about five minutes to get out of the car and another three to get into the house.

"I'm back." Ian said as he walked into the house. Zoro was 'asleep' on the couch next to Usopp, who was working on a weapon, and Luffy, who was watching TV. On the chair next to the door was Sanji, reclining, and on the other chair was Chopper, watching TV.

"How long were you guys at Teal Lake?" Ian asked, taking off his coat and placing it nicely on a dining room chair.

"Not too long." Zoro said, 'waking up'.

"Oh." Ian said, not really paying attention.

"Where were you?" Sanji asked slyly.

"Out-" and he disappeared into the bedroom.

P-O-P-U-L-A-R

Skie walked into the apartment to see Ia, Chey, Izzy, and Nami standing in a line with their arms crossed. Ia had a look trying to sustain a laugh, Chey had a proud look on her face, Izzy was all 'oh no she didn't', and Nami was angry.

"What's going on here?" Skie asked as she dropped her keys on the little table next to the door.

Ia bust out in laughter, Chey ran up and hugged her, Izzy and Nami stayed put.

When Ia and Chey calmed down (that took a while), Nami started, "You never told us where you were going," and Izzy finished, "With Ian."

"We... we were on a date." Skie said and tried to get to her bedroom but Izzy and Nami blocked the hallway to her door.

"At Up Front?" Izzy said and instantly knew that she shouldn't have said that.

"How... how did you know?" Skie asked and glared at Ia.

"I was not there!" Ia shouted, trying not to laugh again as she sat there with Cam. Chey was standing next to Ia's door.

"Then how do they know that we were at Up Front?" Skie shouted.

"We were there. Izzy was your waitress!" Chey said and Izzy glared daggers at Chey.

"She wasn't. Our waitress had-"

"Light blond hair with green eyes and was about an inch taller than you?" Chey said, smiling softly.

Skie kept her confused gaze as she turned her head from Chey to Izzy to Chey to Izzy.

"I can change form." Izzy said and changed into the waitress at Up Front. Back to herself. Into Nami, into Chey, into her brother, into Skie, and back into herself.

"COOOLLLL!!!" Skie shouted. "Why didn't Ian tell me!?"

"He doesn't know. So far, everybody but Ian knows!"

"Why do you hide things from your brother?" Nami asked as Cam left the apartment.

"I don't want him to worry about me. Please don't tell him!" she said as they sat down.

"I have a question," Ia said very loudly, "Why were you so interested in my boyfriend?"

Izzy stared. "I don't know?" she said, still in shock, "I guess it was just one of those little crushes. Which reminds me, I'm going to go outside for some air before I go to bed." she said and quickly left the room.

Chey stared, "How would that remind her to get some air?"

C-A-N-Y-O-U-F-E-E-L-T-H-E-L-O-V-E-T-O-N-I-G-H-T

Izzy stepped out into the cool night air. The temp had gone down considerably since they got back.

She took a breath and exhaled slowly.

Someone came up and touched her arm softly, causing her to jump and scream.

"SHHHHH! Calm down, it's me." they said.

"Oh, Sanji. You did come." she said, turning around to face his half face.

"Yeah," he said quietly. What was it about her that made him so mad, yet so breathless? He loved her when he was 13 for two years until she left when he was 15. Yet when he met Izzy, she was no different, but he hated her. She was just so ignorant and annoyingly uncontrollable. But that was what attracted him to her when he met Bella. So what was different now? And did she love him back?

"Let's go somewhere more private." she said and lead him across the street to the little gap of shadow. It was the little bit of grass between the Methodist church and the Middle School. She went right up to the wire fence and leaned her back against it. Sanji leaned against the red wall of the church.

"Well?" Sanji started softly, hoping that would get her talking.

"Do... does... uh..." she tried to say but nothing came out, so Sanji said, "Why did you leave?" with a sigh.

"I couldn't stay there forever, Sanji. You know me! I can't stay cooped up for a long time. I was just planning to stay there for a few months but..." she trailed off.

"But what?" Sanji asked, accusingly.

"You were keeping me there." she said quietly.

Sanji was struck with silence. So she did love him back!

"I... I was keeping you there?" he asked, knowing it to be true, but still, he asked. He wanted to hear her voice.

"Yes. I don't know what it is about you!" she yelled angrily, suddenly. "You are so annoying and suave. So unbearable yet kind. So amazing..." she trailed off again.

"Yes, I am all those things." Sanji said quietly with so much pride in his voice it was amazing his head didn't explode right there.

Izzy gave him a subtly smug look.

"I was gonna ask you to come with me, you know," she said sadly, "But I knew you wouldn't have been able to go."

"I would have. I... I loved you. I still love you." he said.

Izzy didn't reply.

"Izzy?" he asked, thinking of the Izzy he knew and hating her so much but then reminded himself that she was Bella, the girl he fell in love with when he was younger.

"You don't love me, Sanji." she said shakily.

"Yes, yes I do!"

"I've heard you use that word a lot. Mainly to Ia. What about her?" she said forcefully, yet shakily.

Sanji had nothing to say to that. What about Ia? Did he still love her? He decided not. Besides, she could never love him back again. Not unless Cam suddenly died of unexpected causes- no. He can't kill Cam, at least not yet. But if Izzy said she loved him back, he didn't care at all anymore. Ia could come begging for him and he'd deny her.

"I have to admit... I still have feelings for Ia. But I'd always pick you! Even if she came to me begging for me to love her. I'd pick you!" Sanji said truthfully.

Izzy looked at him and said, "I'll think about it." and ran back across the street and back inside the house.

* * *

I DON'T WANNA END THE CHAPTER BUT IT'S GETTING LONGER AND LONGER AND LONGER!!! Bad night for romance... well... for Sanji and Izzy, it is. Poor fools. 

Ok, ok. I wanna know. Should she say no, or should she say yes? I just wanna know. Tell me in a review or I won't update for a very VERY long time. Got it.

SongTIME  
Welcom To The Family- Little Big Town  
Popular- Wicked  
Can You Feel The Love Tonight?- Elton John

12-29-07

REVIEW!!!


	13. The Answer

Oh, Izzy. How shall this turn out. Will Sanji have his heart broken AGAIN in this Fanfic...

-THIRTEEN-

The next morning, Sanji bearly payed attention as he cooked breakfast for everyone. When he put it out on the table, he noticed that Izzy wasn't there.

"Skie, where's Izzy?" Sanji asked as he placed the sausage onto the table.

"She said she wasn't hungry." Skie said as she spooned a few on to her plate.

Sanji at his breakfast quickly and waited for Izzy. If he knew her well enough, he knew that she would make sure she wouldn't see him until her mind was made up. Which could take forever. He could wait.

Near noon, Ia sat down next to him on the davenport.

"Something bothering you, Sanji?" she asked.

There was no use lying to her, she was probably reading his mind right now.

"I thought you hated her?" Ia asked, clearly reading his thoughts. He didn't answer, well, not out loud.

"Ahhh... long lost love! I see. Because of her powers you didn't recognize her. I see, I see. I'll ask her for you?" she said and Sanji nodded and then Ia didn't move for a while.

Sanji stared at her, "I thought you were going to go ask her?"

"I am." Ia said, her eyes closed in serenity.

"Formally ask her! You're being very invasive, you know." he said.

"She would never tell me even if I asked a thousand times. This way is much easier. But... I can't tell you." Ia said and got up but Sanji grabbed her wrist and said, "Why?"

Ia didn't struggle, but said, "Cuz I said I'd ask. I never said I would tell you the answer!" she said, and laughing, slipped her wrist out of his fingers and went into the kitchen.

A-L-L-I-A-S-K-O-F-Y-O-U

"What did Sanji want?" Cam asked, eating Ramen out of a bowl.

"To see if a certain someone loved him or not."

Cam glared at Sanji through the kitchen door.

"Not me." she said irritably, her head in the fridge.

"Good." he said and turned to Ia, who was eating cheese right from the package. The big block of it.

"That's disgusting." Cam said, watching Ia take a bite of the block of cheese.

"That's disgusting." she said back, nodding to the Ramen.

C-A-N-T-B-U-Y-M-E-L-O-V-E

"Hey, sis. Wanna talk?" Ian asked, walking into Ia's bedroom where Izzy was sitting on Ia's bed. Her arms around her waist and staring out the open window.

"Sure." Izzy said and Ian jumped onto the high, comfy bed.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't decide, is all." she said quietly. Her hair was a mess, all over the place. She was still in her pajamas and she hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch.

"Decide what?" Ian asked, looking at his baby sister.

"Whether I love him or not." Izzy said.

"Love who!? Cam? I thought you said you-"

"Not him." Izzy said loudly to shut her brother up.

"Oh. Who, then? Zoro?"

"No. He's taken."

"Usopp?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Luffy, Zac?"

"No, and God no."

"Chopper?"

"Now you're just reaching."

"There's no one left?"

"You forgot someone." Izzy said, trying not to smile at the thought of him.

"You hate Sanji. I could never see you two together. It's just impossible! You're like fire and he's like water. Not together."

"I can't help it. I love him."

"You can't love him!" Ian yelled, getting frustrated.

"Why can't I?" Izzy said loudly.

"Because... because... I won't let you!"

"You were ok when I liked Cam!?" Izzy shouted, standing now, like Ian.

"That's because I knew it was a crush. This is the full blown thing, Iz, and I don't like it!"

"Oh, so I can't love someone but you can!?" Izzy yelled, the screaming match floating out the window and down onto the lawn where everybody, minus Cam and Ia, were.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ian shouted.

"I WAS THE WAITRESS AT UP FRONT WHEN YOU AND SKIE WERE ON YOUR STUPID DATE!" Izzy screamed, fuming now.

Ian was struck dumb. "H-how?" he asked, confused and scared.

Izzy let out a breath. "I have the Devil Fruit Powers. I can change my appearance at will. I have been able too since I was three. I didn't find out till I was ten." she said slowly.

"What else don't I know about you?"

"I could write a ten volume series on what you don't know about me... well, nine. I just let you know something that an entire volume could have held."

"I thought you always hated Sanji? When did you fall in love with him?" Ian asked, sitting down on the bed, calming down a bit.

"When I was ten. When mom died and you went to look for dad, I went to who mom said was our grandpa. Her dad, Chef Zeff."

"You went to the Baratie? Why?"

"I wanted to get away from a lot of things. Plus I know how to cook. I am a world class cook," she said, a note of pride in her voice, "I met Sanji there. I was only planning on staying for a few months, but because of him, I stayed for two years. I finally left when I was twelve and I hadn't seen him since then. I didn't remember him at first, but when I was showing Nami and Chey how my powers work, I turned myself into the little ten-year-old girl I looked like when I was at the Baratie. I looked exactly like mom."

"Brown hair, silver eyes." Ian said.

"Yeah! You remember?"

"Of course I remember mom. Why wouldn't I?" he paused. "What else haven't you told me?" he asked.

Izzy then told him the main parts of her life that he wasn't at (which is most of them after their mom died). How she was a ship hopper, a waitress, was in the slave trade for a year, a cheap entertainer, and other various scandalous jobs before she reunited with Ian again.

"You did all that in seven years?" Ian asked, thinking all of it was absurd.

"Yes. Now you know. I am wanted, too!" she said with a guilty smile.

Ian sighed, "How much?" he asked without looking at her.

"Not much... just, oh say, 70,000,000!" she guiltily smiled.

Ian shook his head.

R-E-M-A-I-N-S-O-F-T-H-E-D-A-Y

That night, Sanji was sitting out on the swing, smoking, as he always did because Ia forbid it in the house (stating that she would kill him painfully and without her powers if it smelled like it again). So, not wanting pain, he did it outside.

Izzy took a deep breath and stepped outside.

She crept up behind him and whispered in his ear, "I love you, too."

Sanji jumped and turned around and dropped his cigarette butt into the grass and said "You do!" excitedly.

She nodded.

"You sure?" he asked as she walked around the swing so she was standing in front of him.

"Yes!"

He said nothing after that, but instantly started kissing her.

"I can't see!" Skie said.

"You're not making this better!" Ia said.

"My leg's falling asleep!" Chey said.

The three Amigops were crowded in the window of their living room, trying to see what was going on down on the lawn. The window didn't have a screen so they were out of the window pretty far.

Zac, who heard them from downstairs, walked in silently and with his foot, pushed the three girls out the window.

"SPARTA!" he yelled in doing so.

They fell, screaming, onto the lawn. First Ia hit the ground, then Chey fell on top of her, and Skie landed a foot away.

Sanji and Izzy stopped kissing to see the three girls getting up from the ground, moaning.

"I... will... kill... Zac..." Ia moaned as they trudged into the house.

* * *

Zac, you gonna pay for that! Yes you will. Don't worry.

I'm on a ROLL! God, now what should happen? Gah, this sucks.

SONGtime

All I Ask of You- Phantom of the Opera  
Can't Buy Me Love- The Beatles!  
Remains of the Day- Corps Bride

REVIEW PLEASE!!!

12-29-07...


	14. Attempts of Revenge

I really don't know what to write... so much fun!

-FOURTEEN-

Luffy was sitting in the front yard, his legs crossed Indian style, staring at a flower that was growing in the yard.

"Morning, Luffy." Izzy said as she walked out the front door and moved over to the swing to sit next to Sanji.

The only people slightly disturbed by the couple were Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper. Luffy didn't really care, as long as they wern't fighting, and Ian was happy for them. Zoro wasn't really paying much attention to them, since he was with Chey, A LOT! But Nami, Usopp, and Chopper were botherd by it. Just a little bit.

"It seems... unnatural?" Nami said, her voice full of disgust.

"You're probably just jealous." Ia said as she passed the trio who were sitting on the davenport, looking out the windows at Sanji and Izzy.

Nami scoffed quickly and loudly, "I am not!" she yelled after that.

"Of course your not." she said as she walked into the kitchen, tupperwear in her hands.

Nami rolled her eyes and turned back to Sanji and Izzy.

It was now mid September, the kids of Negaunee were back in school and the days were getting colder and colder. Ia, Cam, and Zac wern't botherd by the cold much. Ia claimed it was because they were band members. It was true.

"So are we going to do anything?" Chopper asked, holding the precious drapes open with his antlers.

"I can't think of anything we could do? They seem happy together." Usopp said as he watched the two love birds out there.

"They do." Nami said bitterly to herself.

H-O-O-K-E-D-O-N-A-F-E-E-L-I-N-G

The day passed quickly, they didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

After a fabulous supper prepared by Sanji, Nami went back upstairs and plopped down onto the couch.

"Are you ok?" Skie asked, coming into the room.

"I'M NOT JEALOUS OF SANJI AND IZZY!" Nami yelled.

Skie smirked and out came Ia and Chey.

"I told you she'd do that!" Ia said happily as she did a little hop and floated in midair. Sitting as if she was on a chair, crossing her legs smartly and placing her hands on her right knee, which was the one on top.

"What?" Nami yelled, sitting up.

"I told Skie to ask if you were ok! You acted as if everybody has been asking you that all day! HA! This is lovely!" Ia said and looked out the dark window with a look of concern.

"What's going on?" Nami asked as Chey sat next to her, Skie on the glass coffee table.

"We know you're hurting," Chey said, "It's ok! We understand that you liked it when Sanji adored you."

"So what? Doesn't mean I'm jealous of him and Izzy. I'm glad that they arn't fighting anymore!"

"Were you this jealous when he was going out with Ia?" Skie asked.

"Who said I was jealous?" Nami asked.

"Ia, she's denying! Ia?"

"What are you staring at?"

Ia's eyes narrowed and she made a sharp swinging motion with her hand. They heard a yell from outside and Ia smirked and closed the window slowly with her mind and turned back to them.

"I'm not going to read her mind without her permission." Ia said and Skie and Chey stared at her confused.

"Why?" Skie asked, "Nothing's ever stopped you before?"

"Yes, but this is a more deeper emotion. Hurt! I'm not that mean!"

"Yes! Yes you are!" Chey shouted in a pleading motion.

"Nami, may I divulge into your mind?" Ia asked politely, disregarding Skie and Chey's protests.

"Fine. I don't see the point. I'm not jealous." Nami said and sat back on the couch.

Ia raised her eyebrows and then closed her eyes in serenity.

Chey moved into the kitchen to make some tea for herself and Skie took out a book from one of the various bookshelves in the room and casually flipped through it as Ia was reading.

When Chey came back into the room, Ia opened her eyes and said, "Whoa! She's more jealous then me! You know how jealous I get?"

The two girls nodded.

"She's so jealous, I'm surprised she's hiding it so well! She's so green with envy that it makes the grass look pale!" Ia said, liking her analogy.

"I... I am not!" Nami sputtered.

"Uh huh! Sure you arn't!" Ia said, floating in mid air like as if she were meditating. Her legs crossed Native American style.

"I'm not. Why do you insist that I am?" Nami asked.

"Once they're stuck on something, they're bound to see it through. Take me and Zac-"

"Zac and me," Ia corrected.

Skie continued as if Ia didn't speak, "When we were in... tenth grade. They were stuck on the notion that I liked him still."

"Because it was true." Chey and Ia muttered to themselves.

"See?" Skie said, motioning to the floating Ia and Chey, who was sipping her tea.

T-H-E-J-O-K-E-R

Chey laid awake that night, mulling over her thoughts, when something undeniably evil came to her mind.

She walked into Ia and Skie's bedrooms, prodding them both awake and bringing them into the kitchen, which was lit by a single candle in the middle of the table.

"Wha?" Ia hissed as she sat there with Skie, they were both very tired looking and Ia looked as if she was about to attack Chey.

"Ok! I was thinking, how do we get back at Zac? Well, what if we push him out the same window?" Chey asked.

"We can't do that!" Skie said.

"Yeah... let's push him off the roof!" Ia said, her and Skie thinking alike.

"I don't know... that could possibly kill him. We don't want to kill him, do we?"

Skie and Ia looked at each other and said, "No."

"Good! Now... how do we-" but Chey stopped when the front door of the apartment opened up and Zac, sleeping like a baby, floated in on his back.

"Thank you, Ia?" Chey said, not thinking they do it tonight.

"No problem!" she said happily.

But at that moment, Zac rolled in his sleep and fell to the floor and woke with a start. The girls were silent and stiff.

"Wha? Where am I? What?" he said as he got up.

Skie, Ia, and Chey shuffled to the side of the kitchen so Zac couldn't see them through the open door.

"What was that?" he said loudly. The girls held their breath.

They could hear Zac moving through the small entrance hall of the apartment. They could hear his breathing and his footsteps getting closer to the kitchen door.

All of a sudden, the precariously pearched pile of dishes in the sink decided to fall over, creating a small crash in the iron sink. The girls snapped their heads towards that, then back to the door, where they could see Zac's form coming into the dark kitchen. In their haste to get over to the side, the candle had been blown out.

Zac walked over to the sink, the Three Amigops shuffled silently over so he wouldn't see them, or touch them.

"Why don't they do the dishes?" he whispered to himself, loud enough so that they could hear him.

He shrugged and turned around and tripped over Chey's outstretched foot.

Skie and Ia had a tough time stifling their laughter as Zac got up and stared at them.

He flicked the switch and said, "Hello, girls!"

"H-hey, Zac," she said nervously, "What are you doing up here?" Skie demanded.

"I don't know, you tell me." he said surely as he stood their confidently.

"You're in _our _apartment! You should be ashamed of yourslef!" Ia said, sounding abashed.

"And I'm not." Zac said plainly.

The girls were dumbfounded. "Go!" Skie shouted and Zac left the apartment with an air of smugness.

"We need to get him back." Chey said darkly and went back to bed.

* * *

Wow this chapter was annoying.

SONGtime...

Hooked on a Feeling- BJ Tomas  
The Joker- Steve Miller Band

I'm wondering why nobody's reviewing (stares you all down with a huge eye)

1-12-08


	15. Life Sucks

This actually happened! The game, I should say! Cuz this was truly hilarious!!!

Chapter Fiveteen

It was a rainy day (Ia was in a very good mood), a couple days after they accused Zac of sneaking into their apartment. Chey, Skie, and Ia were bored, so they played Life, because they all really didn't have one in the first place.

"RED CAR!" Ia shouted as she brought the game from her bedroom into Skie's and shut the door so it was open only a crack.

"Green!" Chey said.

"Blue, I guess." Skie said and took her little blue mini-van.

"How much money do we get?" Skie asked, looking at the bank of colourful money.

"10,000, but we each get an additional 40,000 for college."

"When do we pay it back?" Chey asked.

Ia glanced back and fourth and muttered, "Keep it."

They got the game set up and spun to see who went first. It went Chey, Skie, Ia. They all started with college, for some reason, and Ia kept getting ones on her spins.

Once they were finaly in the game...

"STOP!" Ia shouted when Chey landed on the red square that said GET MARRIED!

"Why do we have to get married?" Chey asked as Ia picked up her notebook and asked her who she was gonna marry.

"You have to pick someone real." Ia said from behind her notebook.

"Not Zoro!" Skie whined.

"Why?" Ia asked, looking at Skie with a confused look on her face, trying hard not to laugh.

"Kenny!" Chey said happily and Ia wrote it down, giggling.

"Who?" Skie asked, looking from Chey to Ia.

"Ireland. He was on the swim team and Chey had the biggest crush on him!" Ia said happily and telling Chey to spin again.

Once Skie got to the GET MARRIED square, she picked, "ZORO!"

Zoro, who was sleeping in the living room, picked his head up at the sound of his name.

He stood up, rubbing his forehead because of a headache, and walked quietly over to where Skie's bedroom door was, open only a crack. He stopped at the sound of his name again from Chey.

"Why are you marrying Zoro?" she laughed.

"Yeah, what about Ian?"

"It's not like it's real! I wanna marry Zoro!" Skie said and Ia wrote that down next to Skie's name.

"I married Cam!" Ia smiled and spun for Skie, since she was being slow. "Two, Happy Honeymoon!" Ia said and started laughing so hard she fell over onto her side.

The game went on, they came up to the BUY HOUSE square and Skie, trying to buy a tudor, went into debt.

Ia and Chey were laughing hard now, since Skie had the 'never-ending' honeymoon with Zoro.

Chey, after buying her lakeside cabin, had a baby boy and name him Nicoli.

"Furnish Baby Room? Pay 5000 dollars?" Skie said as she landed on that square.

"You haven't had a baby yet?" Ia said, still stuck behind the BUY HOUSE square.

"I know!" Skie snapped.

Zoro was still listening to the game, not really paying attention till his name was heard.

"Apparently Zoro got drunk and made you a baby room!" Chey said and she and Ia burst into laughter once more.

"Shut up!" Skie shouted, laughing as well. Then getting dirty thoughts in her head.

"He's probably gonna be to lazy to-" Ia started but then shut up instantly.

Skie stared at her with this look of disturbment and fright. "WHAT!? TO LAZY TO DO WHAT!?" she screamed.

"Nothing!" Ia laughed.

"Oh, my head is so far in the gutter right now." Skie said, placing her face in her hands.

Zac, Cam, and Ian walked into the apartment at that moment and saw Zoro sitting outside Skie's bedroom, which was cause for some weird looks and talking.

"Zoro, what are you doing there?" Ian said loudly. Thankfully, the girls were still laughing hard so they didn't hear him.

"Listening to them in there play this game they call life?" Zoro said.

"Oh." Zac and Cam said. Ian still looked angry, but now a little more confused.

"What?" he yelled.

"Shh. C'mere. This is getting good, even if Skie said she's married to me."

"WHAT!?"

"Who's Ia married to?" Cam shot out quickly.

"You." Zoro said, bored.

"Chey?"

"This one guy named Kenny?"

Once the girls calmed down a bit, Ia took her move and managed to get two of the crappiest houses in the deck. "BEACH HOUSE OR MOBILE HOME?!" she screamed angrily when she got them.

"Pick the one not made of metal." Skie suggested, looking at the cards.

"Fine." Ia growled and threw the mobile home back at Skie, who had the deck in her hands.

Ia took another turn and landed, like Skie, on 'Furnish Baby Room, Pay 5000$.'

"Are you kidding me? I haven't even had a kid yet?"

"Maybe Cam's trying to say something?" Chey said and started laughing, as did the others.

The guys were all standing next to the door, Ian, Zac, Cam, and Zoro. Cam's eyes widened when he heard that. The others stared at him.

"Shush! At least he was drunk when he built it!" Ia shot back, laughing while doing so. "Hey... where's my car?"

Chey and Skie started giggling, and Chey said, "Zoro stole it!"

The guys looked at Zoro in shock and Zoro glared back at them, mouthing he didn't take her car.

The game continued, Skie and Ia ended up NOT having any kids, which was cause for discussion. Skie ended up in debt a couple more times, Chey bought another lakeside cabin, and Ia wrote a bestseller.

"'Have Cosmetic Sudgery, Pay 100,000$,'" Ia read as Skie landed on that square. "God, what'd ya do?" Ia said.

"Zoro had a brain inserted!" Chey said and, once again, the girls started laughing.

Zoro was close to bursting into the bedroom and at that, he was about to, when Ia said, "Guess what!"

"What?" the girls asked.

The boys heard some whispers that they couldn't make out.

The girls continued their game and were quiet for the rest of the time.

The boys were confued and then suddenly, the door to Skie's room burst open and all they saw was Skie's bedroom. Her bed over on the far wall, her desk on the wall next to them, and her bookshelves lining the rest of the walls. The girls no where to be seen.

"What happened? Where'd they go?" Ian asked, looking around.

The window was open a crack and little droplets of water were getting onto the hardwood floor.

Zac went over and closed the window and continued looking around.

"Hello, what are you doing in my bedroom?" they heard from the doorway. They all snapped their heads towards it and saw the Three Amigops standing there. Skie in front of the other two.

"Uh... well... you see...?" Cam started.

Zac's gaze darted back and fourth.

"Uh... hi, Skie! How are you?"

"I was just leaving!" Zoro said and made for the doorway. The girls let him pass and a few steps away from them, Chey said, "We heard you listening!"

"What?"

"Sorry, Ia heard you listening." Chey corrected.

Now it made sense.

Zoro stood there, not moving.

"Have fun?" Ia asked as Cam came up to her.

"It was an interesting game." he replied.

Skie looked at Ian who hugged her and said, "Thank you for not embarrassing me!"

Skie laughed and said, "You're welcome!"

"Drunk? Skie's husband? Brain insersion!?" Zoro yelled at Chey.

Chey nodded, laughing.

"Wanna play Clue now?" Ia asked, looking excited.

* * *

I finaly finished... bah.

No Song time for you today. Sorry.

REVIEW! And I didn't steal this from Skie, this actually happened, we have liability to write about it cuz it was the best thing that happened last weekend! HA!

1-26-08


	16. One Piece Grand Battle

Let's get on with it!

Chapter Sixteen

Winter had finally reached the UP. Which ment it was mid November.

It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Ia, Luffy, Usopp, Skie, Sarah, Chopper, Ian, Izzy, and Ia and Sarah's nephue, Troy, were playing in the front yard of the house.

There was about a foot of snow already, a great winter start, and everybody (minus Chopper) were in snow pants and big jackets and funny looking winter hats.

Ia, Skie, Izzy, and Troy had their fort on the side of the house next to Teal Lake Ave while Luffy, Ian, Usopp, Sarah, and Chopper had their fort on the other side.

"Get those snowballs ready! We need to attack soon!" Skie hissed as she, Izzy, and Ia made the snowballs. Troy was hanging on Ia's neck and saying the little words he could, which were Nanty Ia, snow, cold, and broken. He said broken because whenever he saw his Auntie Ia's half heart necklace, he automatically clamed it as broken.

"Cold." he said as Ia placed her snowballs in the pile.

"Are you cold, babe?" she asked as Troy buried his head in her neck.

"He's so adorable!" Izzy said, as she placed her snowballs in the pile.

"Izzy!" he said and tackled her, bringing her down into the snow. The two-year-old was pretty tough.

C-O-L-D-C-O-L-D-W-A-T-E-R

Over on the other side of the house, Luffy, Usopp, Ian, Sarah, and Chopper were busy making their giant snow bolders.

"Why are these better?" Sarah asked as she rolled up the snow into what looked like a third of a snow man.

"They're bigger!" Luffy shouted, making another one. They already had three.

"You can throw them, then!" Sarah said and just realized something, "Why did Livia put me with all boys!?"

G-E-T-B-A-C-K

Sanji, who was on the main floor of the house serving Nami and Chey hot cocoa, looked out the window and his eye grew wide. The fight had already started and the girls and Troy were pushing the boys and Sarah back towards the fence. The four giant snowballs were trying to be picked up by Luffy, but he was having difficulties.

"Oh no. The boys and Sarah-Chan are loosing." Sanji said and Nami and Chey turned around to see Luffy hawking the giant snowballs and hitting Ia and Izzy and bringing them down. Skie and Troy were the only ones left and Skie was throwing like mad while Troy was running up and tackling the other team members and giving them whitewashes, which he learned from his Auntie Sarah.

"They look like they're doing ok." Nami stated as Cam came into the room with Zac. Zac looked out the window and said, "I didn't know that Ia's team sucked!" laughing.

Cam instantly was looking out the window and saw Ia getting out of the snow next to Izzy. Suddenly, all the snow flew off of her and Izzy and completely missed Skie and Troy and hit the boys and Sarah.

A couple minutes later, everybody trecked into the house, their clothes even wet! The only ones not wet were Skie and Troy.

Troy ran into the room and quckly attached himself to Cam's leg. Since he couldn't say Cam's name just yet, he just called him Uncle. But he could say Zac's name pretty well.

"I think we won!" Sarah shouted as they walked into the room, her team behind her on that.

"How? Your entire team is wet! Only two outa four of mine are!" Ia said proudly.

"Troy doesn't count!"

"Still one out of three, then!"

"But we had you two down!" Sarah yelled, pointing at Ia and Izzy.

"ARE YOU OK, IZZY-CHAN!" Sanji sobbed, having watched Izzy being pelted by a giant snow bolder.

"I'm fine, Sanji!" Izzy said and kissed him on the cheek. This made him melt like the snow off of their clothing.

"Sanji, could we have some hot cocoa, please?" Ia asked, bending over to speak to the puddle of Sanji eeking into the carpeting.

"Of course, Ia-Chan!" he said quickly and ran into the kitchen.

W-I-N-T-E-R-T-I-M-E

Upstairs in the girls' living room, Skie had her Game Cube, and Ia had her xBox 360. But today, they wern't playing the varieties of Halo games, they were playing a game that Skie just found under the couch, One Piece Grand Battle.

"I'M ZORO!" Skie screamed as she threw the tiny disk in and started it up. Ia grabbed the other controller and said, "Fine. I'm Sanji!"

The music started and Skie picked their battle stage, Arlong's Park.

"Why here again?" Ia asked, looking at Skie. They were sitting about three feet from their TV up against the coffee table. Ia had changed into pajama pants since her jeans had gotten wet and Skie was already in pajama pants. Her's green with little skull and crossbones all over it. Ia's red with little penguins in scarfs all over it. Then they just had sweatshirts on. Ia, her sophomore Swim Team sweatshirt (the one that said SHIMMY on the back) and Skie her Honorary Straw Hat sweatshirt.

"Cuz I like it here!" she said and started going off in her high pitch voice like Jim Gaffigan. Ia started laughing and didn't notice when the game started and Zoro started beating the crap out of Sanji.

"HEY!" Ia shouted and started fighting full force against Zoro, mainly by kicking him in the face.

Nami and Chey walked in, talking about books and such, when they saw the game.

"What's that?" Nami shouted, seeing tiny Zoro and Sanji on the screen.

"One Piece Grand Battle." Ia and Skie said together in a monotone, not leaving the screen.

"YOU FOUND IT! SWEET! I'M ZORO NEXT!" Chey shouted and sat down on the couch.

"You can play winner, which means you're playing me!" Ia said, smirking and Skie yelling, "NUH UH!" and they both started just pushing random buttons, since they really couldn't remember what to do, to win. Eventually, Sanji fell into the water and never came back up.

"YOU SUCK!" Ia shouted and threw the controller at Chey, who sat down next to Skie and started playing as Zoro and Skie picked Nami.

"IS THAT ME!?" she screamed, looking at the almost crudely animated version of herself.

"You should see when you're playing against Sanji!" Ia said, smirking, then she got up and left the apartment. A couple minutes later, she was back up here, this time with Cam, Zac, Ian, Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, Luffy, Usopp, and Izzy.

"What's that?" Zoro shouted when he saw himself on the screen. Since Ia refused to let the English version of One Piece ever haunt her (4Kids or Funimation) and Skie didn't let them know she had the sixth or first movie, they didn't know that they were actually real in this world.

"That's you, fighting Nami. And getting your butt kicked." Ia said, sitting down on the couch at the end near the wall. In-between her and the wall was a table with various magazines and a lamp on it. Some of the magazines were _Vouge, Shonen Jump, People, _and a few different tabloids.

"Nami couldn't beat me!" he shouted, leaning up against the wall arch that was the entrance to the living room.

"I could too!" Nami said, scoffing, turning to him.

"Take it outside, not here." Chey said,eyes not leaving the screen.

"We're not gonna fight!"

"Battle it out on the game!" Ia shouted, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"HA! BEAT YOU!" Chey shouted, jumping up and pointing at Skie, who sulked on the floor and said, "HUMPH!" and stalked away on her knees.

Nami and Zoro took the controllers. Chey showed them the controls and Ia got them to the battle arena, Arlong's Park again. Nami was Nami, of course, while Zoro was Zoro.

The game started and Nami and Zoro stared down at their controllers and started pushing buttons. Their characters started berserking and jumping around untill the little Zoro started slashing the little Nami.

"HEY!" Nami yelled and started beating little Zoro with her staff.

Skie went up to Usopp and whispered something in his ear. His face grew blue and fearful and he said, "But I could _die_!" in a quiet voice that only Skie could hear since everyone else was absorbed with the game.

"You run when right after!"

Usopp shook his head violently so Skie decided to change it to Luffy. She walked over to where Luffy was sitting on the floor, his head stretched so he could see the TV. Skie pulled his head down and whispered in his ear.

Luffy's grin creeped onto his face and he nodded in 'yes.'

Silently, he flattened his arm and crept it behind the couch to the very end where Ia and Cam were sitting. Ia at the very end next to the arm, her hair up in pigtails that fell onto her chest. Cam's arm around her waist. Neither of them noticing Luffy.

Luffy's hand appeared behind Ia's head and he bent his wrist slowly and pointed his index finger. He slowly and very gently poked Ia's bare neck.

Suddenly, Ia stiffened and fell onto the floor, looking as if she were having a stiff seizure. Luffy brought his arm back instantly and went back to watching the game, he and Skie in silent giggles. Skie 'accidently' forgot to tell Luffy that Ia just might snap if someone poked her in the neck, again.

Nami paused the game and everyone stared at Ia as she got up off the floor and glared around. Eliminating those who she knew couldn't (or wouldn't) poke her in the neck. She narrowed it down quickly and suddenly Luffy was flying out the window she had just opened with her mind.

Everyone stared at her.

"What was that about?" Ian asked, staring at her as she calmed down and shut the window without moving.

"Don't _ever _poke my neck." she said darkly.

"Since tenth grade, Ia only reacts if someone pokes her on the neck. If you poke her in the side, nothing happens." Chey said, explaining it to the people who didn't know why Ia snapped and threw Luffy to his almost certain death by window. Then, Luffy walked in the door. Covered in snow.

"WHY'D YA THROW ME?!" he yelled, walking over to Ia, who was standing there with her arms crossed, her face set, her eyes narrow.

"Why'd ya poke me?" she asked back, evilly glaring down Luffy till he would break. Which might be soon, we'll see.

"Skie told me to." he said simply, pointing at Skie.

Ia's neck snapped towards Skie and everybody heard the crack that came in doing that. Skie shifted her eyes back and fourth and then ran to the safety of her bedroom. Barring the door from Ia.

They watched Ia run to the door and then their screaming at each other then chose to ignore it and went back to the Game Cube.

* * *

Oh my GOSH! That took FOREVER! Excuse me for not typing, gosh.

REVIEW!

3-8-08 12:30 AM

Song Time

Cold Cold Water- Flat Broke Blues Band

Get Back- The Beatles

Winter Time- Steve Miller Band


	17. DnD in December

Ah beh ah beh ah beh...

I tired... but I haven't been able to type in forever...

Chapter Seventeen

"You can't do ANOTHER ELF!" Ia shouted at Cam from across the coffee table. The room was dark since daybreak on that cold mid December morning was another hour away.

"Who said?" he retaliated back with a snap. At this hour, all the giddiness most of them got when they were tired fell away to crankiness, but they said that eventually they had to do an all nighter of DnD. For those of you who DON'T know what DnD is, it's short for Dungeons and Dragons. A super cool (did I just say that?) game for the people who are complete nerds, dorks, and geeks alike. Everybody but Chey, Cam, Zac, Skie, and Ia were asleep, unaware of what that five were doing.

"What, are they just waiting up in a line outside your room door?" Ia shouted and got a chorus of SHHHHHHHHHHHS from Chey, Skie, and Zac.

"Apparently! I just got drunk in the tavern and wasn't free ballin it for once! So they felt the need to make that happen." he said and got silence. Was it either they were stunned at what he just said or that they were now asleep with their eyes open.

"You free balled it once." Ia stated clearly. Her dark brown eyes getting near being closed as she attempted to stay up. She took a swig of her two liter of Mountain Dew again and stared down at her character sheet. She was using the Elf one this time. She was trying to get her human tortured and so that was out of use. Plus, she lost it in her room the other day and hadn't told anybody yet. So, she decided to not tell them till she found it. And by them, she ment Zac.

Zac rolled the 20 sided die and looked at it for a while then said, "She throws up and passes out in the corner of the room."

"What do I get to do!" Cam asked excitedly.

Zac rolled the die again and said, "You do nothing and pass out on the bed from exhaustion and alcohol consumption. The line of Elf girls at your door go away to the other rooms in the tavern and you don't get to do any of them."

"Damn it." Cam said in response to the crappy roll of the die.

"Alright, Chey, it's your turn." Zac said slowly, turning to the auburned hair girl to his right.

W-H-I-T-E-A-N-D-N-E-R-D-Y

Sanji, being the first up in the morning to make breakfast, walked past the bedroom where Cam and Zac are usually asleep in the two twin beds and saw them empty, and still not made.

His curly eyebrow cocked in confusion and he turned on his heal and headed, past the sleeping rocks, to the girls' apartment. He knew he wasn't suppose to be up there, but if Cam and Zac were there, he could be there.

He opened the door silently and stepped in on tiptoes to the living room where he found them. They were all asleep.

Chey was curled up in the big chair like a cat, her head resting in her hands. Skie was laying on her side on the floor in the entrance to the living room between the chair and the matching couch. Her back to Sanji. Zac had his head in his arms and was supported by the coffee table that had all the dice, little pieces, player profiles and two liters of random pop brands on it. His back was to the far wall so if he were to look up, he could see Sanji. On the floor way on the other side of the room next to the far end of the coffee table, with their heads bent neatly together, were Ia and Cam. Since they were on opposite sides of the coffee table from each other, they must have fallen onto the floor since Ia had her foot under the couch and Cam's feet were almost touching the far wall from Sanji.

He didn't know what to do. Wake them, or let them sleep there. And what were they doing that night, he wondered. Why are there odd shaped pieces on the glass coffee table?

Sanji sighed and decided to leave them there, let Nami and Izzy deal with them, wherever they were. That's a good question, where were they?

He left the apartment, wondering all these things.

F-O-O-L-I-N-G-Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F

Izzy stepped out of Skie's room, where Skie let her sleep that night, yawning and stretching. She was already dressed (a pair of jeans and a red shirt to match her hair which was up in a bun) and looked ready for a day of sitting around with Sanji when she spotted the five of them asleep in the livingroom.

She looked at them for a while then when she got her senses fully back she realized what was wrong with this picture.

But before she could yell, Nami came out of Ia's room, where Ia let Nami sleep that night, dressed in a pair of black pants and a white and black polka dot shirt.

"Do you see that?" Izzy whispered hastily to Nami, pointing to the livingroom.

Nami looked over slowly, still being groggy from waking up, and said, "Yes."

Izzy waited for a few moments for that image to really pop in Nami's head, "OH!" She whispered loudly and said, "They're not 16 anymore, they can do what they want." and went downstairs.

Izzy watched, scadalized, as Nami went downstairs to eat breakfast and followed, stomping. That stomping woke Chey.

"Wha?" she moaned and lifted her head a couple of centimeters and almost opened her eyes. She was still really tired, only to have been sleeping a few hours, and fell back asleep, her arm draped down over the chair so it rested on top of Skie's head.

None of them woke.

T-U-E-S-D-A-Y-G-O-N-E

"Hey, Nami, what are we doing today?" Luffy asked when Izzy and Nami came down to breakfast.

"I don't know, Luffy." Nami said as she got her food and sat at the dinging-room table and started eating. The old chandelier above her.

"Look what I found." Ian said, coming out of the bedroom behind the table, Cam and Zac's room.

"What is that?" Zoro announced loudly as he sat at the end of the table closest to the living room.

"It's Zac's laptop." Ian said slowly, trying to remember what it was called. Ia had showed him how to use it so he was aloud to touch it.

"What's a... latpop?" Luffy asked, staring at it from his seat beside Nami. Chopper and Usopp were on the other side of the table and Izzy at the other end closest to the kitchen, opposite from Zoro.

"It's a computer, Luffy. Something that you can get any information you want faster than Nami can open a book."

"HEY!"

"It's true, Nami. Ia showed me the... online?" Ian said, opening it up to a Halo 3 background and clicking on the little blue E on the top of the screen.

The Google page popped up and he, slowly but surely, typed in and clicked enter. Quicker than Nami opening a book, the Wikipedia page popped up and an Ooooooo of being impressed rang through the room. Everybody was standing behind Ian, who had taken Luffy's chair and had placed the laptop on the red tablecloth.

"What should I look up?" Ian asked, turning around and facing everybody's confused and awed faces.

"Look up me!" Sanji said quickly, pointing to himself.

Ian shrugged and typed in, slowly, Sanji.

"I can't read this?" Ian said, looking at the words on the Wikipedia page and shrugging.

"What is that? Is that me? God, I look so horrible in that picture!" Sanji said, placing his face an inch from the screen. Hating the picture of him on there.

"Fine me." Zoro said, glaring at the laptop that Sanji was about to pour hot water onto.

"Fine," Ian said and typed in Zoro. "There you go, happy?" he asked as he let Zoro look at the picture of himself on the web.

Zoro glared at the picture. Sanji moved him out of the way and started laughing at the sight of the picture.

"DO ME! DO ME, DO ME, DO ME!"Luffy shouted at Ian as Zoro and Sanji glared at each other, Sanji trying to hold in giggles.

"Alright, calm down!" Ian said and typed in Luffy.

"Hey, if you can't read what's on the page, how are you typing in our names?" Nami asked, still sitting next to Ian.

"I watched Ia do it when she was showing me her laptop. She has a picture of herself and Cam as her picture on the screen," he said as Luffy's page popped up. "Luffy, it's here."

Luffy looked at his picture and yelled, "I LOOK AWESOME!" and started jumping around with Chopper, saying how awesome he looked on the Wikipedia.

"Nami, would you like to see your picture?" Ian said, turning to Nami.

"Yes." she said, looking over at the screen as he typed in her name.

"Meh, it's an ok picture." she shrugged and stood up and went into the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Are we on there?" Izzy asked, ducking as a sword came swishing out and aimed at Sanji.

"Ia said we aren't." Ian said sadly, typing in Usopp.

"Why?"

"I don't know." he said and called Usopp over to see his page.

Chopper was next and then Ian tried Ia herself.

A lot of choices popped up and he managed, from his little knowledge of the English language, to pick the right Ia.

The picture of her was of her holding her hardcover book, _Enchantingly Ugly_. She was smiling broadly and was wearing a red shirt. The cover of the book had only the body of a girl wearing a blue dress.

"She's on this too?" Izzy asked, looking at the picture of Ia with a little contemp.

"Yes." Ian said.

O-N-L-I-N-E

"Are they having another snow ball fight?" Sanji asked as he brought Izzy and Nami hot cocoa on a silver platter. He looked out the window at Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro, and Ian were throwing snow at eachother.

"Yeah, we let them out because they were annoying us." Nami said as she took a sip of her hot cocoa.

Sanji cocked his eyebrow then looked up at the ceiling.

"What?" Izzy asked, watching him look around the ceiling.

"I thought I heard something?" he said and placed the tray between the two girls and quickly headed out into the front hall and up the stairs, two at a time.

"Why is he going up there so quickly?" Izzy asked, turning to Nami who had a look on her face that Izzy didn't like.

"Maybe something to do with _his _Ia." she stated clearly.

Izzy snapped her head around to the door as if it were Sanji and then turned back to Nami, "He told me it wasn't like that between them anymore!" she shrieked softly.

"Oh, it's not..."

Upstairs, Sanji had opened the door quietly and tiptoed over to where they five were still asleep, or hoped they were asleep.

Chey was now stretched out on the chair, dangerously over the two arms. Skie was now halfway under the coffee table. Zac looked as if he never moved, Sanji thought he saw dust gathering on him and wondered if he died. Then there was still Ia and Cam with their heads bent neatly together near the forehead at their hairlines. They were sleeping peacefully and Sanji wondered what the sound was that he heard.

He was about to turn to go when he thought he saw a small smirk on Cam's face.

Anger swelled in him faster than a speeding train. He grabbed the first thing he saw, which was a TV turner, and hurled it at Cam, hitting him squarely in the forehead, also nicking Ia in the head. But she was too deep of a sleeper to notice, but it hit Cam pretty hard, so he did wake.

"OW!" he yelled, his face twisted as if trying to keep in laughter.

"Why are you laughing? You made that weird noise, you were awake!"

"I was. But I didn't make any weird noise." Cam said, standing up and rubbing his head where the TV turner hit. Ia stayed asleep, as did the rest of them.

"Don't lie to me." Sanji growled.

"What time is it?" Cam asked then looked at the clock and said, "3:30 already?"

"Yeah. What were you doing here anyway?" Sanji growled, his eyes on Ia.

"Playin DnD." he said and ignored the look of slight confusion on Sanji's face, his eyes flickering from Ia to Cam.

"Oh." he said, not really paying much attention but enough to not know what DnD was.

"Why do you keep looking at her," Cam said swiftly, trying to glare down Sanji. "Arn't you with Izzy now?" Cam asked darkly, more of a statement then a question.

"I am. But just because I'm with Izzy-Chan doesn't mean I can't care for Ia-chan."

Cam said nothing.

"I still don't think you're the best for her. I don't know if you know this but I hate you."

"I know _that_." Cam spat.

"She can do _much_ better." Sanji said and left the room, his hands in his pockets, a smirk on his face.

* * *

GASP!? Oh, Sanji!

It's not like anybody didn't see this coming, and I wasn't typing that. It was Sanji, I swear. (slaps Sanji in the face)

3-10-08

SongTIME!!

White and Nerdy- Weird Al

Fooling Yourself- Styx

Tuesday Gone- Lynyard Skynyrd

Online- Brad Paisley


	18. The BeefARoo

Gasp! What will happen?

Chapter Eighteen

"PORKCHOP SANDWICHES! What's going on?" Skie yelled as she awoke suddenly. She crawled out from under the coffee table to see Cam still fuming for Sanji had just left a minute before.

Skie stood up and looked at Cam and then said after another minute, "What happened? What time is it? Where is everybody? I'm hungry?"

"Shut up, Skie." he said swiftly, anger in his voice.

"Well!" she said, scandalized and was about to stalk off to get something to eat in the kitchen when she noticed Zac was still asleep at the coffee table. She smirked and quickly ran over and poked him in the side, and then jumped over the coffee table and took cover in the kitchen.

"GAH!" Zac yelled when she poked him and looked up suddenly, angry.

They could hear Skie's laughter from the kitchen.

"You alright, Captain?" Cam asked, not really paying much attention, but still thinking about what Sanji had said.

"What's with you? Wouldn't you have tried to poke her back by now? Or are we too old for that?"

Then Skie's voice rang from the kitchen, "WE WILL NEVER BE TO OLD FOR THAT!"

"Nothing's the matter!" Cam snapped.

"Whoa! No need to get snippy!" he said as he got up slowly and noticed that Ia and Chey were still asleep.

Cam said nothing, but turned away from Zac. Zac shrugged and went to wake Chey and Ia but Skie stopped him before he could do anything.

"Don't do that! You know how mad they'll get if you wake them?"

"I'll wake Ia." Cam said and kneeled down slowly to gently wake Ia.

"I'll get Chey." Zac and Skie said and, before Zac could do anything, Skie pushed Chey off the chair.

"HEY!"

In the scrap that Skie had gotten herself and Zac in against the now angry Chey, Cam gently shook Ia's shoulder.

"Mffffmalnekning." she moaned and tried to get out of him shaking her shoulder.

He sighed and leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Neck tickle."

Her head whipped backward. "Damn it." she said, smirking, and got up reluctantly but instantly fell onto the couch to try to go back to sleep again.

"Get up!" Skie shouted and Ia turned onto her back instead of staring at the back of the couch and glared up at Skie. Ia's pigtails askew and falling out from sleeping on the floor.

"Why?" she said back.

O-N-E-S-H-O-R-T-D-A-Y

The Three Amigops decided to treat the crew to supper at the swankiest place in all of Negaunee, so they took them to the Beef-a-Roo. Also known as the Barf-and-Chew.

Sanji didn't want to go but went when Izzy said that it sounded interesting.

So, piled into two cars, they went out to 41 and out to the Beef-a-Roo, which was still in Negaunee, not on the outskirts like Cattrons Lumber or the Motel.

"Ok, we'll divide it up by people," Ia started. "I'll get Sanji, Izzy, Ian, Nami, Cam, and Zac, kay?" Ia said.

"You have six people to pay for including you?" Chey said.

"Yeah. It's ok!" Ia said and turned around to keep in her laughter. It took Skie and Chey a while to realize that they were now paying for Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Zoro. The biggest eaters there plus themselves.

Lucky for them, there wasn't anybody there that night. It was mid December and was in the midst of a snow storm, which was werid. Snow usually didn't come till the 24th. But they were lucky this year, early to come, early to leave is what usually happened.

"You just got cheddar fries and a chocolate shake?" Zac asked when he came over with his food. A tray full of the nastiest stuff you'll see. But it was the Beef-a-Roo and so it was awesome. It made them think of Jazz Band.

"Yes?" Ia said as Cam came and sat down beside her in the booth. The rest of them were in the various other booths in the little room with the big windows so they could clearly see their cars getting piled with snow as if someone was shoveling it on there deliberately.

"Why?"

"Cuz that's all I want? It fills me up, and why did you get that! IT'S DRIPPING! Ha ha ha! SNOWPARTY!" she yelled at the thought of the memory of when her sister's boyfriend bought a burger from here once before going sledding and it was dripping into his lap.

Zac stared at her as she took a fork and shoved it into the cup holding the cheddar fries and started shoveling them into her mouth.

Over in the other booths, Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were having an eating contest, Chopper keeping track. The one over was Izzy, Nami, Chey, Skie, and Ian. They were talking about random stuff, like DnD, shoes, Ice Cream, why French was better than Spanish, and how it was impossible for a swallow to carry a coconut across the ocean.

"It's not a matter of where it grips it! It's a matter of weight ratio! A five ounce bird carrying a one pound coconut! It can't be done!" Skie shouted.

"How so?" Chey asked, leaning her chin into her hand and smirking, trying to see if Skie really COULD answer this without an awesome quote.

Back in the booth holding Cam, Zac, and Ia, Zac had left to go to the bathroom and that left just Cam and Ia.

"Ia, I have to tell you something." he said more in a mutter, but she was able to hear him.

"What?" she asked, taking out her chapstick and putting it on her bottom lip and spreading it around her lips a little slowly, as if she were trying to insinuate something.

"It's something Sanji said to me. About... about you-"

"I already know!" she said in a preppy girl voice, very unlike her normal one.

"You know he said that you could do so much better then... then me?" Cam asked, clearly confused and then Sanji popped up from under the table and was sitting next to Ia. She now had a smirk on her face and Sanji was placing his arm around her, smirking also.

"You clearly lost!" he said and they started kissing passionately.

It was dark. The window cold to the touch.

He realized where he was after screaming 'NO' several times over. He was sitting up in bed, a cold sweat running down his face. His had was steading him on the cold window. It was a dream. A bad, bad dream. But what Sanji had told him, no, that wasn't a bad, bad dream. That had happened.

B-E-D

You would think it was only a matter of time before Cam cracked and told Ia what Sanji had told him, but Cam decided to spare Sanji's life (for you know Ia would so totaly kill Sanji at hearing that) and not tell Ia. But he forgot one special thing, can anybody guess what Cam forgot? Yes, class, he forgot that Ia could read minds.

The Three Amigops plus Izzy and Nami were all in Ia's room. Chey, Skie, Nami and Izzy were sitting on Ia's bed while Ia paced in front of them.

"Why are we here again? I could be with Zoro right now!" Chey said, almost whining.

"Shush. Now, yesterday, Sanji told Cam a very terrible thing."

"Was it when Sanji ran upstairs at the 'weird noise?'" Izzy asked.

"Apparently. Anyway, when he woke Cam up, he told him that just because he was in love with you, Izzy, didn't mean he couldn't care for me. So he told Cam that I could do much better."

Izzy kept her comment in. But, you know, Ia should be a lawyer! She can so totaly tell if someone's lying, or keeping something in.

"Yes, Izzy. I heard you. And I'll have you know that I love him and nothing is gonna change that!" Ia shouted, bearing down on Izzy, who smiled slyly.

"Exactly!"

Ia backed up and thought about that. Stupid Izzy, being right at this time.

"Out." Ia shouted and everybody sprinted out of Ia's bedroom before she could throw them out the window like Luffy.

There was a knock at her door as she was sitting at her desk cluttered with her random notebooks, scraps of paper, gum wrappers, candy wrappers, cough drop wrappers, pencils, Mountain Dew bottles and her various little jewelry boxes.

"Who is it?" she barked, thinking it was probably one of the girls again.

The door opened and Cam let himself in.

"When I say, 'Who is it,' that doesn't mean 'come in.'" Ia said, pushing her office chair back and facing Cam.

"Yeah... I know," he said slowly. "I've gotta tell you something." he started.

"I know," she said but he cut her off.

"I know that Sanji ment what he said! He's right! I don't blame him."

Ia listened as Cam continued with his little speech thing.

"Well?" Cam asked after he was done with the rest of his speech.

Ia blinked slowly, "Well," she started after a pause, "Sanji's jealous. And, I might add, I don't believe him when he said that." she said simply, getting up from her chair. She kicked her pair of red knee highs under her deck. They were dirty and had been worn five times already.

"You don't believe him?"

"Nope! If I did believe him... I wouldn't be here right now! I'd most likely still be on the Going Merry with Sanji. Cuz you know that's what he ment. Yes, he's going out with Izzy, but his heart will always have a place for me. And sometiems I think that place is bigger then the place for Izzy!" she said and smiled a little evilly. They were close together now.

I-W-O-N-T-S-A-Y-I-M-I-N-L-O-V-E

"Should I?"

"Why? It'll only hurt Sanji... Yes. Yes, do it!"

"Mmmm... maybe not. Like you said, it'd hurt him." Ia said, thinking it over.

"Don't you _want_ to hurt him?" Cam asked, trying to get her to tell Izzy.

"I hurt physically, not emotionally." Ia said, looking up at Cam with a skeptical look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah you do. But knowing Izzy, she might hurt him physically!"

"Well..."

Izzy was sitting on the davenport, reading a _Vouge _issue when Ia walked into the room and sat down next to Izzy.

Sanji was sitting next to Izzy on the davenport.

"Hey, Ia." Izzy said, not looking up but Sanji looked almost a little scared. He recognized that look in Ia's eyes even if her face didn't show it.

Ia said hi back and then slipped a folded piece of paper in the spine of the page Izzy was on. Quickly, Ia fled from the room into the kitchen where she could watch Sanji's face.

Izzy looked at the note curiously and then unfolded it and read it. Every second Sanji's face grew scareder and scarder.

Izzy's eyes grew huge and she then turned to Sanji in disgust and got up abruptly and left the room.

He looked up at Ia, and saw that Cam was standing next to her.

Ia sent Sanji a little note through her glare, "You mess with my relationship, I mess with yours. Tests like these make them stronger," and then she called him a variety of different curses and made up swears.

* * *

Wow... it's done... the chapter, I mean.

3-16-08

SongTIMe

One Short Day- Wicked  
Bed- J. Holiday  
I Won't Say I'm in Love- Hercules


	19. All Out Prank War

Ah... midnight!

Chapter Nineteen

"How serious is it, Chopper?" Sanji asked as Chopper came out of Skie's room, clasping his doctor bag. Sanji was in tears.

"Izzy's not in there, and it's pretty serious, but they'll get better. Izzy told me that she doesn't want to see you." Chopper said as he crossed the entrance hall and entered Ia's bedroom and shut the door with a snap. He wasn't allowing the guys into the sick rooms.

See, the girls had caught something after Ia came back from visiting her grandpa in the Nursing Home. And so this was the start of Flu Season in Negaunee. Since, according to Ia's sister, Sarah, half of her class was out to the flu. And it was January! Flu didn't usually come till end of February early March.

Chopper entered Ia's bedroom where she and Izzy were being held. Ia on her bed, Izzy on a cot they had found... somewhere...

On the subject of Izzy, she had only said two things to Sanji since Ia told her what Sanji ment in telling Cam that Ia could do much better. What Sanji had ment was that he still was head over heals for Ia and that she should still be with him, not Cam. The two things that Izzy said to Sanji are unable to be told now, since if they were on TV, they wouldn't just censor it, they'd cut the entire scene.

"Morning, Ia, Izzy." Chopper said as he walked up to the gap in their beds. Ia was staring up at the ceiling and Izzy was face down in the bed with about seven blankets on top of her. She had her mouth out so she could breath. Maybe she was trying to suffocate herself, but was debating about it still. Still, neither girl said anything.

"How are you feeling today?" it was the third day with the nasty flu. The one where you have aches and pains along with bad sore throat phlegm coughing and a stuffy runny nose and sinus pressure enough to make an elephant cry. You're cold then hot twenty times in the past ten minutes and all you can do is sleep, hopefully. You can't even ingest much of anything. Besides water and pills and then after a while, you nearly puke trying to ingest even the pills.

Ia turned her head slightly to give Chopper her signature death glare, but the sinus pressure was so great that she flinched and went back to her normal position.

Chopper force fed them some medication and left the room so they could have some peace and quiet, that is, for about five minutes right before Cam and Zac got back.

The guys had spent Christmas and New Years with their families. Cam way off in the middle of nowhere practically and Zac down in Utah with a distant cousin that they still didn't know his name. Zac refused to tell and they had a strong suspicion that he didn't even know at the time as well.

Ia had visited with her family on Christmas day, like she always did, and on Christmas they all had went out to the Nursing Home to see her aging almost dead grandfather and at the Nursing Home, the flu was going around and Ia caught it. Getting Skie, Chey, Nami, and Izzy sick along with her. Skie and Chey had had Christmas with their families as well and the crew had spent Christmas morning with Ia, Skie, and Chey and Christmas afternoon and night with themselves. Ia did get them a giant turkey (and another one for Sanji, Izzy, Usopp, and Nami since the giant one would be gone in ten seconds due to Luffy and Zoro) for Christmas dinner.

"Where's Ia?" Cam asked as he opened the door to the girls' apartment and saw Chopper's stuff in the very small entrance hall. Chopper himself was in the kitchen, getting the medicine straight.

"She's in her room, but you're not allowed in there." Chopper yelled before Cam could move a muscle.

"Chopper, you can trust us!" Cam yelled and made for the door but Sanji was then there in front of it, growling, "If I can't go in there, you can't go in there."

Cam gave him a look of death. Ever since Sanji told Cam Ia could probably do much better, they vowed to themselves that they would never _ever _even attempt at being nice to each other. They now hated each other so much that they would enjoy watching the other one partake in the Holocaust three times over. Watching them slowly wear away until they were finally put in the showers and then killed. That would be the greatest thing in the world to the two.

"What makes you think you would ever go in there?" Cam growled back, the two glaring the other down until Chopper stepped in-between them.

"You can't go in there because all the girls are sick!" he said loudly, trying to push them apart.

"They're sick? Ia's sick?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me!" Cam yelled and tried to get into the room but Chopper formed into his strong point and held Cam back saying, "It's very contagious! You can't go in there!"

"YOU GO IN THERE?" Sanji yelled loudly and then Chopper had to hold both of them in his hands and say, "I'M A REINDEER, I WON'T GET SICK! PLUS I'M THE DOCTOR!"

He put them down and said, "You can NOT go in there. I won't let you get sick!" and at that, he went back into the kitchen.

W-H-E-N-Y-O-U-L-O-V-E-A-W-O-M-A-N

"Is that an onion?"

"Yes." Cam said, turning to Ian who was standing in the doorway to Cam and Zac's room. He was watching Cam prepare some things. An onion, a pack of gum, some rope, a ball of purple yarn, scissors, and pink hair dye he had 'borrowed' from Skie.

"What... what are you gonna do with that stuff?"

Cam looked back up and said, "Stuff. Sanji..." and then he left the room, passing Ian, and went into the kitchen.

S-U-R-R-E-N-D-E-R

Sanji stepped out of the shower and wrapped a light blue towel around his waist.

He grabbed another smaller white towel and started towel-drying his hair with it. When he pulled the towel back, there was a great pink stain on it.

He stared at it then quickly looked into the mirror and started screaming. His lovely yellow blond hair was now a great colour of hot pink.

Everybody, even the sick, brought confused looks to their faces when they heard Sanji shriek. Everybody but Cam, that is. He sat there in his chair outside the bathroom door with a smirk on his face.

Sanji banged the door open, his face a torrent of fury and his now hot pink hair sticking up at odd ends, but still covering his eye. When he saw Cam, his face calmed a bit and he glared at him so fiercely that it was amazing Cam didn't flinch at all.

"You did this to me." Sanji hissed horribly. Anybody would have gotten scared at that. Not Cam, though.

"I know!" he said, smirking so.

"Why?" Sanji hissed again.

"Why not?"

And at that, Sanji slammed the door and the running water could be heard.

"It won't come out for a while, Onion!" Cam said and left the hallway, laughing.

Sanji wondered why Cam just called him Onion and then the smell came to his nose. Onions. Why did he smell onions?

He looked around and stepped back into the shower and noticed the bar of soap he had been using had something peeling off of it. When he pealed it off, it was about half an onion, and it reeked!

Sanji smelled himself and was repulsed. He now smelled like onions. And Cam had taken all the other soap and such out of the bathroom just so he couldn't wash it off.

"Damn him." Sanji growled.

D-E-V-I-L-S-D-A-N-C-E-F-L-O-O-R

Later, still smirking because Sanji now reeked of onions, Cam opened the refrigerator door and found only onions in there.

Confused, he closed the fridge and opened a cabinet and found, again, only onions.

"Hey, Cam, do you know where Sanji put all the food? All I could fine are these fruit stuff?" Luffy said from the table where he was sitting, eating an onion like an apple.

"This was Sanji, huh," Cam said and then yelled, "IT'S NOT GONNA WORK, SANJI!"

Then the basement, or as Ia called it, the 'Cave' door burst open, blocking the exit to the dining room and out came Sanji, holding a punjab lasso and looking a little demonic with is hot pink hair.

Luffy started laughing hysterically when he saw Sanji's hair and then Sanji came closer to Cam with the lasso in his hands. The punjab lasso was held up to go around Cam's neck so Sanji could slowly take away the last breath that Cam had with his own hands. Then somehow he'd have to explain this to Ia, but he decided to worry about that later.

Cam looked around quickly and then took out a French knife and sliced the rope in half and then quarters.

Sanji looked down at the bits of rope on the checkered tile floor of the kitchen that was always disgusting and said, "Right." and then ran back to the basement, shutting the Cave door behind him.

B-L-O-O-D-R-I-T-U-A-L

This was now war. Since the pink wasn't coming out of Sanji's hair (Zoro now passed out from laughter every time he saw Sanji) and Cam was nearly lassoed to death, they were now at a prank war. And everybody knew what, or rather who, this was about.

The girls were getting better slowly and now the guys were allowed in their rooms again. But, unfortuanatly, Chopper had put Izzy and Ia in the same room. So Cam and Sanji refused to go into the room if the other was in there.

It was a Saturday morning and Sanji was preparing breakfast, so Cam decided to go visit Ia.

He walked into the room quietly and found Izzy still asleep and Ia sitting up in bed, her laptop on her lap. She had her messy hair up in a ponytail and only two sweatshirts on today.

"Good morning." Cam said normally. He found that Izzy, like Ia, was a deep sleeper.

"She's really out right now and I think it's the medicine. She'll be out for another three hours I presume." Ia said as Cam came over and sat on the edge of Ia's bed. Ia closed her laptop and placed that on the small rectangular bookshelf that was under the window.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not hungry." she said forcefully. Chopper had been trying to get her to eat and now Cam was on that notion too.

"Alright. When do you think you'll be out of bed?" he asked a little slyly, hoping she hasn't caught on to what was going on downstairs yet.

"Chopper told me in a day or two. But I have to eat." she added bitterly. She was now even refusing to ingest the medicine, saying that it makes her now puke.

"Why won't you eat?"

"Why should I?" Ia asked, crossing her arms and pouting.

_'You could probably die, you know?'_ Cam thought and expected Ia to retort with a snippy comment, but none such came.

"Are you gonna say something?" she asked and took a tissue from the box and blew her nose.

"You can't hear my thoughts?"

"Too much sinus pressure. It pains my head to much and trying to move stuff and listen to people isn't happening right now. Not till I'm better," Ia said simply, looking at the tissue and throwing it on Izzy's cot. "You know I can't use my power when I'm sick? A simple cold to puking with a 103 feaver, it all adds up to the same thing, no power."

Cam was struck with an idea, "You don't have to eat if you don't want to!" Cam said suddenly.

"I know that! Why should I? I feel like crap as it is anyway!" Ia said happily and at that, Cam got up and left without another word.

Ia couldn't hear what was going on? YES! This is probably one of the greatest things that could happen to Cam right now. The only thing that could top this was Sanji would never find that out. So he'd still be very cautious and Cam could get away with almost anything!

M-O-R-E-T-H-A-N-Y-O-U-L-L-E-V-E-R-K-N-O-W

Sanji went out back in the backyard of the house which was really a driveway. No grass, just pavement. He went out there to smoke.

He reached into his pocket and brought out the pack of cigarettes amd pulled one out and was about to light it when he noticed something about it. He took it out of his mouth and realized it was a candy cigarette!

He growled and walked back into the house and into Cam's room where he took Cam's pillow and hid the pillow part. Then he took the pillow case and stuffed it with old cabbage that was partially eaten. Luffy had found them and thought they looked tasty and bit into each of them to see if any of them were tasty. None of them were and they reeked now.

That night when Cam got into bed and laid his head against the pillow case, the hard feeling of half eaten cabbage hit his head and the stench blasted against his nose.

That night, he slept without a pillow.

The next day, Sanji's food was replaced with onions, Cam's mangas went missing, the back of Sanji's head was shaved, Cam's ramen went missing, and Sanji was introduced to ZoroXSanji parings on .

"_They loomed nearer to each other as the rain beat down on them, getting their blond and green hair wet. Zoro's strong arm wrapped itself around Sanji's hips and he pulled him into a long and passionate ki-"_

"STOP READING!" Sanji yelled, stopping Cam from finishing this fanfic he chose because all the summary said was ZOROXSANJI ZOROXSANJI ZOROXSANJI ZOROXSANJI ZOROXSANJI ZOROXSANJI over and over again. "WHO COULD POSSIBLY WRITE THAT! THAT IS JUST AGAINST NATURE! AGAINST NATURE!" Sanji yelled and fled the room. Cam laughed.

M-A-K-E-M-E-B-E-T-T-E-R

"Ia, please eat! Izzy's better because she ate!"

"It's because she was sick last month and her body was able to fight the sickness better than mine." Ia said. She just didn't want to eat!

"I'm going to get Cam." Chopper said bitterly as he was leaving the room.

"He'll vouch for me!" Ia shouted after the little reindeer.

Chopper bounced down the stairs and found Cam in the junk closet off the dinging room. He was looking through the dresser that was in there at the time for anything he could use against Sanji.

"Ia's still not eating! She hasn't eaten in a week!" Chopper cried.

"If she doesn't want to eat, then she doesn't have to eat." Cam said, to preoccupied with the search.

"But she's now starving herself and she won't listen to me!"

Cam half turned. Should he make her eat? But he still had so many plans against the Onion, which he now called Sanji, and Ia wasn't stopping him.

"Fine. I'll get her to eat." he said finally and Chopper thanked him almost ten times before he left the closet.

Right after that, Cam went upstairs to Ia's bedroom.

"Did you tell Chopper that I didn't have to eat?" she asked as he entered the room.

"No." he said simply as he sat next to her on the bed. The puffy covers were covering her legs and she still had two sweatshirts on.

"Why?"

"Nami, Izzy, Chey, and Skie are all better." Cam started.

"Are they? I wouldn't know. I'm still in here." Ia said, indicating her bedroom which now had a definite air of sickness to it.

"They ate and they got better. Chopper said you're now starving."

"I'm not hungry." she said and he quickly got up and went to the door and when he came back into the room he was holding a plate of pizza rolls.

Ia's eyes opened wide at that and she said, "I'm... I'm not hungry."

"Eat it! You know you want to!" he said, pushing the plate towards her. She pushed it back.

"I do not want to eat." she said, enunciating the words clearly, trying to get this through to him.

"You sure?" he asked, smirking slightly.

Ia looked down at the plate and said nothing, but instantly started shoving them into her mouth. After about five, she realized that they were just out of the oven and they all came back out as she screamed that they were hot.

"I need milk to go along with these." she said after she was done screaming and she took the mush of steeming pizza rolls and put it back into her mouth.

I-T-R-E-A-L-L-Y-W-A-S-N-O-M-I-R-A-C-L-E

Cam had one last chance to pull something on Sanji and he wasn't about to let it pass. Little did he know, but Sanji was planning something too. But Sanji didn't have Zoro's help.

"We can't KILL him!" Cam hissed at Zoro as they held up a sheet of blue paper.

Zoro sighed and asked, "Why are you holding a piece of blue paper?"

Cam looked down at the paper and said, "I don't know." and threw it out of the room.

"So, what can we do to the Shitty-cook?" Zoro asked, picking something out of his teeth.

"Well, I was thinking..." Cam started and explained this huge long elaborate plan that involved Sanji getting somehow mauled by a grizzly bear and trampled by a moose.

"I thought you said we weren't gonna kill him?" Zoro said once Cam was done. Cam was now looking quite fearful, with his hair on end and his face half crazy. He was standing in-between the two twin beds and had his hands in a chocking position.

"That won't kill him." Cam said, flattening down his hair and sitting back down on the bed across from Zoro, who was now cleaning his katana.

"How so?"

"Well... uh..." Cam then left the room.

A-S-C-O-R-O-N-E-R-I-M-U-S-T-A-V-E-R

Sanji was in the dark back shed. It was nearing midnight and Sanji had gotten a note that said, 'Wait in the back shed for me at midnight, love Izzy.'

What Sanji doesn't know is that Izzy didn't send that note. Cam did, for his plan was now taking place.

He had watched Sanji walk into the back shed, which had it's blinds closed and the door locked.

Sanji stood there patiently, thinking hopefully that Izzy was finally going to forgive him. But she really wouldn't. He tried in no way to explain any of it to her so she refused to talk to him.

Cam stood in the dark hallway next to the door to the back shed. He slowly pulled a clear visor that completely covered his face over his face and smirked in the dark.

Sanji straightened his tie and thought over what he might say to her when she came.

Cam quietly pulled the hidden paint ball gun out of the tiny linen closet to his left, his back against the wall, the door to the back shed to his right.

Sanji rocked back and forth on his feet, his shoes making a tiny _click clack _on the linoleum floor.

Cam clicked the gun and Sanji snapped his head towards the door, expecting Izzy to come out of the darkness, her red hair down and a sly look in her eyes but instead Cam came out of the darkness, the gun aloft, his eyes glaring happily.

"What... what are you doing?" Sanji asked, taking a step back and Cam shot the first paint ball, a pink one, at Sanji. Hitting Sanji in the arm.

Sanji yelled out and quickly tried to kick the gun out of Cam's hands.

When Sanji attacked at Cam, Cam quickly shot another paint ball at Sanji, this one hitting the bottom of Sanji's shoe.

Sanji spun kicked, tried to kick Cam in the face, and attempted to take the gun away from him three times. Cam just kept pelting him with pink paint balls.

The fight was getting louder and louder. Sanji was now half pink and bruised while Cam was untouched except for the one time Sanji kicked him in the gut.

They were about to run at each other and just all out fight when they froze where they were and the gun flew out of Cam's tight grasp into the dark hallway. Ia then stepped into what little light there was in that back shed. The black paint ball gun in her right hand, a box of cheese nips in her left.

"Ia!" they both said.

"Yeah," Ia said and a handful size of cheese nips came out of the box and floated into her mouth. She took her time eating that and when she was finished she said, "Having fun?"

There was dead nighttime silence after that.

"Alright. You," she said, facing Cam, "No more pranks. You," she said, turning to Sanji, "Don't you think you have more pressing matters to attend to than trying to prank my boyfriend?"

"What-"

"You and Izzy are practically broken up-"

"Yeah, thanks to you!" Sanji shouted and Ia continued as if she were never interrupted.

"And this is killing her, if it's not killing you, cuz if you thought about it, it would. Or, maybe it isn't, I don't know right now. I just regained power and it's only this power. I can't read your mind right now, so get it through your thick blond... well... pink skull! You know nothing about girls." and at that, she unfroze them and left to go back upstairs.

Cam gave Sanji a look of triumph and went to bed himself.

* * *

And now this is done.

3-17-08 St. Patrick's Day!

sONGTIme

When You Love a Woman- Journey  
Surrender- Cheap Trick  
Devil's Dance Floor- Flogging Molly  
Blood Ritual- Pirates of the Caribbean 1  
More Than You'll Ever Know- Travis Tritt  
Make Me Better- Fabolous Feat. Ne-Yo  
It Really Was No Miracle- Wizard of Oz  
As Coroner I Must Aver- Wizard of Oz


	20. Black, Blue, and Red All Over

Oooo... this is gonna...

Chapter Twenty

Ia walked in the front door, closing it off to the bitter winds of January.

She had just come from her little sister, Sarah's, birthday party with the family. This one was both sides, so her parents' house was packed with old relatives, and little kids. Sadly, Ben, Sam, and Troy wern't there, they were stuck in Minneapolis due to the weather. But they had sent Sarah a Spider-Man action figure. Ia gave Sarah the manuscript of the book she planned to get published. This was different from her others, this one had Sarah as the main character, going by the name Sarah Wordson.

Ia dropped her coat on the coat rack behind the big brown door and was about to go upstairs when she heard a crash inside the house.

She sprinted inside and saw nothing. She ran to the kitchen and found a plate in shatters on the checkered floor.

"What happened!?" she yelled, turning to the people in the room. It was only Sanji and Izzy. Go figure.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, Ia. I'll get it cleaned up." Izzy said, almost a little bitterly, seeing as she was in the same room as Sanji, who would blame her for being a bit bitter? But she cleaned up the shattered remains of the old plate and put it on the counter for someone to fix.

"That's alright, Izzy. Thanks." Ia said and was about to leave when she felt the need to stay. Just incase Izzy killed Sanji or tried to kill Sanji. "I'm just gonna get... something to eat." and went inside the fridge to look around, but she figured they were deliberately waiting for her to leave, but she couldn't hear their thoughts. Ever since she had gotten sick, she had only regained the use of her able to move things with her mind, or Telekinesis. Her Telepathic part hasn't worked since.

"Alright... got my strawberries and... I'm off!" and at that, she thought she heard a faint whisper, a pleading, of her not to go.

Once Ia was gone, and Izzy made sure she was upstairs at this point, she turned back to Sanji, her arms crossed, her face set in anger.

"Izzy, how many times do I have to say I love you?" Sanji pleaded.

"Till you mean it." she replied coldly and left the room.

He watched her leave and sat down, exasperated. It was then that Zoro came into the kitchen and they heard the back door shut and a few moments later, Chey appeared.

"Hello, Zoro!" she said and kissed him on the cheek and went to sit down on the counter infront of the TV. She was wearing her black and lime green pants with her painted Airhocks. She had on her black swim sweatshirt, like Ia's, on and was sliding her shoes off when Sanji asked, "How do you two not fight?"

Zoro and Chey looked at him and then Chey smiled and said, "Cuz we have nothing to fight about!"

"You're with the Marimo! How do you have nothing to fight about?"

"Cuz we don't, Dart-Board Face!" Zoro snapped and went over to hug Chey. But to Sanji it looked as if her were holding her so she wouldn't get away to Sanji.

"I'll ask a couple that has had their share of fights." Sanji said and left the kitchen and when he stepped into the dinging room, he heard a suction cup sound and shuddered and quickly went upstairs and left the two weird-os to their kissing.

G-I-R-L-W-O-R-T-H-F-I-G-H-T-I-N-G-F-O-R

"Where's Ia?" he quickly asked Skie, who was coming out of the kitchen with a box of cerial in her hand and in the other, a glass of root beer.

"She's in her room, typing I think?"

"Where's Cam?"

"He's downstairs." Skie said and went into the living room where Ian was sitting on the chair. Skie sat next to him and started eating the Cocoa Puffs with her root beer.

Sanji knocked on Ia's bedroom door and heard the familiar, "Who is it?"

Sanji opened the door and let himself in.

"Doesn't ANYBODY know that 'Who is it," DOESN'T MEAN 'COME IN!?'" Ia shouted and Sanji sat on the bed. "What do you want?" she added bitterly. Why were all the girls he loved bitter with him?

"How is it that you and Cam are still together?"

Ia looked a little taken aback at that but then smiled and said, "Cuz we love each other! That's why!"

"Why do you and Chey have such simple answers?"

"Because it's just that simple to answer. And who would ask Chey? I have a strong feeling that Zoro's just afraid of her. But I can't check to be certain. I can't read minds right now." she said sadly as she spun slowly in her office chair that she loved so much.

Sanji sighed.

"Maybe you and Izzy just arn't right for each other? Or you are, and you're just not over me yet. Although I recall you telling her that, quote, 'I have to admit... I still have feelings for Ia. But I'd always pick you! Even if she came to me beggin for me to love her. I'd pick you!' end quote." Ia said, sliding her fingertips together in an evil dictator fashion although her face read nothing of the sort.

Sanji looked at her and knew she was right. But that didn't help him.

"That doesn't help me!" he shouted, getting up and pacing around the cramped room.

"Does it?" Ia said and turned to her laptop to see she had some unread e-mails. A couple from her sister in Minneapolis, a few from her brother in Minneapolis, some from her cousin in North Carolina and one from her mother sending her some pictures that one of her various cousins had sent her of their new baby.

"No, it doesn't."

"God, Sanji, you're such an idiot! Do you really like her?"

"Yes." Sanji said, not getting where this was going.

"Hit me." Ia said, standing up.

"What!? I would never hit a girl! Especially you, Ia-Chan!"

Ia sighed. "Fine then. I get it. Hit me!" she shouted, pushing him back a little.

"I'm not going to hit you."

"Pretend I'm Zoro."

"I'm not going to hit you." he repeated slowly, hoping she would get this through.

"Fine, then I'm telling Izzy that you hit me!"

"Why?" he asked her as she passed to get to her bedroom door.

"So she'll believe you that you don't love me anymore."

"But that's a lie!"

Ia sighed then walked up slowly and said, "I know." and punched him in the face, crushing his nose in the process. He blacked out and collapsed on the wood floor.

"Ow," she hissed as she shook out her hand which was throbbing horribly.

B-A-C-K-I-N-B-L-A-C-K

Ia walked up to Izzy and sat down beside her on Izzy's right. They were sitting on the couch and Sanji was still out cold on Ia's floor.

"Hey, Ia- WHOA! What happened to you?"

Ia's right cheek was a horrible shade of black. It looked like a bruise and hurt to touch. There were a few red streaks here and there where the vein could be seen and it looked as if someone tried to kill her.

"Sanji."

"WHAT!?"

"Yes. I got Sanji mad. He finally snapped and threw me against the ice. He was so mad because I told you that he still loved me. He now hates me."

"Are you ok?" Izzy asked, but Ia could see the gleam in her eyes. Oh, how she was loathing Izzy now.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I'll finally let Chopper look at it." Ia said and went into the kitchen.

Truth was that Sanji didn't throw her against the ice. She was going outside to see if she could use something out there to make it look like Sanji hit her when she slipped and fell face forward onto the rough ice. Rough because there were little rocks littering the walkway on the side of the house. Thanks to Luffy and Usopp who were trying to play marbles with rocks.

Izzy went upstairs and, because Ia's door was open, she saw Sanji getting up from the floor.

"Sanji!" she cried and ran over and wrapped her arms around him.

"What?" Sanji asked as she unlatched herself from him.

"You do love me! You do hate Ia! But you didn't have to hurt her so badly... what happened to your nose?"

Sanji touched his nose and felt the dry crusted blood all over his face and knew that his nose was broken. "Oh, I ran into the door after hitting her." Sanji said, not really caring about the lie. Just as long as Izzy loved him again.

B-U-R-N-Y-O-U-R-L-I-F-E-D-O-W-N

"I feel good now!" Ia said as she sat on Cam's right on the davenport on the main floor.

"Why?" he asked her. Somehow he still hadn't seen her cheek.

"Cuz I fixed the relationship that I ruined!" she said, smiling happily, looking straight. She didn't want Cam to see her face. Everybody in the house thought it was Sanji.

"How's your face doing, Ia?" Skie asked, walking in from the dinging room as she went upstairs.

Ia's eyes grew huge and a slight stab of pain ran through her cheek.

Cam looked at Ia with concerned eyes and gently put his hand to her left cheek and she hissed with pain as he turned her head so he could she the black bruise of when face meets ice.

"That's my fault." Sanji said proudly, walking in with Izzy on his arm. He looked like a pimp. But then Cam turned his face to Sanji's and Sanji then realized it was Cam, not Zac.

"Oh crap." he said and started running but Cam sprinted, in a nano second, to the kitchen door, tripped Sanji up, and Sanji fell face first into the floor and slid till he hit the cabinets.

Sanji got up slowly as Cam laughed at him. He glared and then threw a steak knife that happened to fall when he hit the cabinets at Cam, who dodged it so fast they couldn't see him move. But Sanji threw it pretty hard and it flew past Izzy and almost lodging in Ia's waist.

"HEY!" Ia shouted but Sanji kept throwing knives that were scattered on the floor at Cam. They kept lodging in the wall at odd angles that if someone were to stand next to them, they would be around either head or neck hight.

Cam then seeing that Sanji had one knife left, a very large and sharp French knife, sprinted up to Sanji and passed him on a curve, kicking Sanji in the face at a speed of maybe 62 mph.

Blood spurted everywhere from Sanji's nose and mouth and his visible eye was now a black eye. He turned back to Cam, realigning his jaw, and took the knife he had in his hands and aimed it for Cam's neck when the house started shaking. The familiar sound of plates and glasses and silverware shaking about was heard and Cam grabbed hold of the refrigerator, Sanji grabbed the chair, Ia held onto another chair, and Izzy held onto the door frame, which was probably the safest.

"What the hell's going on?" Ia shouted, "We can't be having an earthquake! We don't get earthquakes!" she shouted as the house started shaking even more violently. Cam lost grip of the fridge and held on to the doorframe leading to the back rooms and then the shaking stopped as suddenly as it came.

Cam looked around and only saw Izzy.

"What... where are they?"

"They couldn't have left? We were standing in the doorways?" Izzy said as she walked into the room. The only things that were there to prove that Sanji and Ia were there before were Sanji's blood drops and Ia's charm bracelet that she just so happened to be wearing that day.

"They were here... right?"

"We saw them! There's Sanji's blood and Ia's bracelet! Are you sure they're not here?" Izzy asked, looking around under the table and in the other rooms.

The next second, Cam was upstairs where everybody was in the living room.

"Is Sanji or Ia up here?"

Everybody looked around and Skie said, "No." as she was sitting on Ian's lap.

Izzy appeared at the door and slammed it shut and locked it twice.

"What's the matter?" Cam asked as Izzy turned around, total fear on her face.

W-H-E-R-E-A-R-E-Y-O-U

Rain fell hard and fast, cold and chilling. Ia could see her breath when she breathed.

Ia let out a long breath as she took in her surroundings. Lucky for her, she wasn't getting wet. She was moving the rain drops so they did not hit her or a foot perimeter around her. She was dry, but Sanji was wet.

Ia glared at the wet Sanji as they stood there on the deck of the Going Merry.

"We're alone." Ia stated slowly.

"I see that." Sanji said, wiping some of the rain off of his face with his wet sleeve.

"How'd we get here?" Ia asked, trying to remember what had happened. The house started shaking like mad and she and Sanji had held onto a couple of chairs and all of a sudden she felt like she was falling and then she was standing on the deck of the Going Merry, starting to get wet. But she acted quickly, making sure she wouldn't get wet she used her other Devil Fruit ability and made it so the water didn't touch her. She let Sanji get wet, though. She blamed him for this.

"I don't know?" Sanji yelled and then trudged up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Ia followed relentlessly.

Inside, they saw that the place looked exactly like they left it, as if no time had gone between the time they left and the time they arrived.

"Weird... you think there'd be dust or something?" Ia said as she sat down on the couch, putting her feet up as she did so, leaning on the arm of the couch.

Sanji said nothing. The bad thing was that he was back on the ship alone, the worse thing was that he was with Ia. Something he would have, at any other time before, taken happily, but since Ia now hated him, he wasn't so keen on liking her either.

"I don't _hate _you, Sanji. I just don't like you the way you liked me before. Why do you think I punched you out?" Ia said, now realizing she could read minds again!

Sanji felt his nose gingerly, it wasn't broken, just fractured.

"What was with telling everybody that I pushed you into the ice?" Sanji barked back.

"They needed convincing that you didn't care for me at all anymore. Although Cam wants you dead now."

"He's always wanted me dead."

"No, he just wanted you injured to the point of dy_ing_. Now he just wants you dead."

"Great, I feel much better about this." Sanji said very sarcastically.

"You should."

B-R-E-A-K-A-W-A-Y

"He's here... I don't know how, but he's here!" she hissed and ran into the room to Ian who put his arm around her to calm his little sister.

"Who's here?" he whispered to her, Skie looking concerned next to him, listened.

Izzy then whispered something so inaudible that everybody didn't think Ian heard. But he did, his eyes grew huge and then everybody snapped their necks to the door which started beating. Someone on the other side was banging on the door as if to try to come in.

"Who's there?" Luffy called out in his brave voice, ready to fight whoever came in that door.

Then the door opened on its hinges, the locks flying everywhere. In stepped a red haired man with three scars and one arm.

"IZZY, IAN!" he called out in a booming voice.

"Is that Shanks?" Skie asked as Ian and Izzy tried to get out through the window.

"Luffy, grab 'em!" Shanks yelled and Luffy's arms suddenly wrapped around Ian and Izzy's waists and whipped them over to the entrance hall, mabye banging them against the walls and people a couple times on the way.

"YOU'VE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME?" he shouted.

The two stared at him, not wanting to go back with him.

"WELL? I'VE BEEN ON LUFFY'S SHIP THE WHOLE TIME LOOKING FOR YOU! IT'S BEEN A ROUGH TIME TRYING TO KEEP GOING WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOUR KIDS ARE!" Shanks shouted.

They heard a snicker in the other room that was quickly shut up.

"How long have you been on the ship?" Ian asked as Skie quietly walked up to the arched doorway.

"For six months!"

"They've been here for six months." Skie said, walking forward.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Skie," then she decided to add, "Ian's girlfriend."

"Ian's... girlfriend..." Shanks said slowly.

"Dad, I'm 19! I can have a girlfriend!" he shouted before he saw the warm grin on his father's face.

"Ian! You're growing up!"

"I have a boyfriend!" Izzy perked up, smiling.

"YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO HAVE A BOYFRIEND!"

"Wait... did I say that?" she said like a salesperson trying to sell you a lemon. "Look at these guys here! None of THEM are my boyfriend!" she then started laughing to sell it. Thank God Sanji wasn't there.

"That's my girl. You won't get any STD if you don't have a boyfriend till you're at least... 35."

"DAD!" Izzy shouted in protest and embarrassment, hiding her red face in her hair, which was as red as her face.

Izzy ran out of the room into Ia's room and slammed the door. Shanks then turned to Ian and Skie and said, "So! When's the wedding?"

* * *

3-19-08 (midnight)

SONGtIME

Girl Worth Fighting For- Mulan  
Back in Black- AC/DC  
Burn Your Life Down- Tegan and Sara  
Where are You- Frank Sinatra  
Breakaway- Kelly Clarkson


	21. Plans and Demands

Oooo... what to do, what to do...

Chapter Twenty-one

"W-wedding?" Skie asked, looking up at the 'father-in-law-to-be.'

"Yes. Surely if you two love each other, you must be getting married soon?" Shanks said.

The two stared at him and then Ian, being afraid of his father's anger, piped up, "Yeah! Of course! We've been planning this wedding for six months! We plan on getting married in June! June 2nd!"

Skie turned sharply to him, shock on her face.

"Can I talk to you in private... I just thought of something for the wedding and I don't want everybody to get excited incase we... uh... can't do it!" Skie said, and flashing a grin at Shanks, pushed Ian into her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

"WE'RE GETTING MARRIED?" she yelled, angry that he told his dad before her.

"NO!" Ian hissed back.

Skie looked like she might cry.

"No... what I mean is... uh..."

"I know what you mean! I was... kinda hoping that if I married someone, they would be from my world," then seeing Ian's face she added, "but I love you! I do!"

Ian smiled, "I love you too!"

They kissed and then Skie asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"Plan a Wedding, I suppose!"

"But what if we tell him we're not ready to get married? For crying out loud, Ian! I'm 19! I'm not ready to get married yet! I live in an apartment with my best friends and we just so happen let our two best guy friends live downstairs. And when you guys came along, it was as if the Going Merry fell into our living room! I haven't finished my manga lately, nothings been going right, apparently Ia and Sanji are now missing!? What's next? Now I'm getting married? I'm not ready for this!" she said and buried her face into Ian's collar bone. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"It's gonna be ok, Skie. Don't worry. We're not getting married just yet. I picked that date cuz there's no way he'd be with us for another six months! I promise! If we ever do get married, I'll actually propose and you'll be the first to know! Deal?"

Skie sniffed and said, "Deal!"

P-R-O-M-I-S-E-K-E-P-T

Out in the living room, Shanks was glaring everybody down. Not saying a word, them not saying a word either.

"So..." he started but was cut off when Ian and Skie came back out into the living room.

"Dad! Shall I give you the grand tour?" Ian asked and swivelled his dad towards the stairs and down them.

"Alright everybody, I need your help!" Skie started as soon as she heard them get downstairs. "Shanks now thinks that me and Ian are getting married in June. You've gotta make sure he keeps thinking that. If he doesn't, we wont be able to go out anymore. Got it?"

Everybody stared, "That's easy!" Chey shouted, looking positively devious, smiling in a way that made even Zoro crawl back slowly. "Right, everybody!" she shouted and they nodded in agreement. Scared otherwise.

A-N-O-T-H-E-R-S-T-O-R-Y

The next day dawned clear and bright. The deck still slippery from last night's rain. They found that they were docked on a deserted island and that the sails were slashed. They were marooned with a ship.

While Ia was trying to track down a pistol of some sort, Sanji went around the island looking for fresh water or fruit or both.

When he came back, he found Ia on the beach with a fully loaded pistol on one side of her, the book _Jane Eyre _on the other.

"What are you doing?" Sanji asked as she lay there, wearing one of Nami's bikini tops and a pair of Luffy's shorts on as well. She had picked a red bikini top as if to mimic Luffy. Her hair was now in pigtails and she had her eyes closed.

"Laying in the sun. It's a very nice feeling after being in winter for a month in a half. It would be better if we came in March. That's a great time to vacation on a deserted beach." she emphasized the 'deserted' part.

"Why are you wearing Luffy's shorts?"

"Amazingly they're the only shorts I found that didn't look like the bottoms of this," she said, pointing to the red bikini top. "Did you find anything?"

"Yes. A lake back there and a whole grove of fruit."

"Good. You cook, I'll fix the sails." Ia said and stood up. Belting the pistol and placing the book in her arms. She smiled smugly and went back off to the ship. She wasn't wearing flip flops.

T-I-C-K-E-T-T-O-R-I-D-E

"What's going on again?" Ia's mom asked when Skie and Ian brought Shanks over.

"Well, Ian's dad's here," Skie made a motion for Ian to take Shanks to the upstairs, "He thinks we're getting married because we're going out." Skie said simply.

"Where's he from? From... they're _world_?" Ia's mom asked, emphasizing the fact that they aren't from this world as if it were a bad thing.

"Yes."

"When- er- How did he get here?"

"We don't know?"

"Where's Livia?"

"She's... uh... she's on a... vacation with Sanji right now!"

Ia's mom stared and then asked, "Why?"

"Well... she and Cam have been, er," Skie coughed "Fighting a lot lately and they needed some time... away from each other. Sanji and Izzy have been fighting too, so they decided to get away from each other for a little bit..." Skie said, hoping Ia's mother would believe her.

"Why is she with that guy? Why isn't she with... Izzy, is it?"

"Well... Cam and Sanji are on the verge of killing each other." Skie said simply as they stood there in the kitchen. Ia's dad sitting next to the fridge on the other side of the room, confusion on his face.

"Ooookkkaaaayyy?" Ia's mom said.

"We really have no more room in our house. Is it possible that some of them stay here?"

"Which ones?"

"We were thinking the ones that are the most like us. Like Izzy and Ian. Cuz if Shanks finds out that we sleep, even if we are a floor away, in the same house, he's gonna flip out!"

"Ok?"

"Yeah, since Ia and Sanji aren't... uh, here! Shanks can sleep on the... davenport?" she said, not use to using that term, "And now Nami won't have to sleep on the floor in our living room!"

"You don't have any beds in that apartment, do you."Ia's mom said.

"No, not really. Chey and I now share my bedroom and Ia's had her own small bedroom. We've had Izzy and Nami in the living room. They've been alternating between floor and couch."

"And the guys?"

"Sanji's been on the davenport, I will not get use to that name, Chopper's been in the chair, Cam and Zac are in the bedroom on the two twins, Zoro's in the back room, Luffy and Usopp and Ian were on the floor. That's all we can do."

"Yeah, Izzy and Ian can come stay here." Ia's mom said and Skie thanked her and she and Ian left, dragging Shanks back across the street and into their house.

"Izzy, you and Ian are staying at Ia's parents' house." Skie said when they got back.

"I have a question, where's the wedding going to take place?"

Skie looked surprised and then Ian yelled, "In here!"

"What are you going to be wearing?" He aimed at Skie.

"A pair of white pants and a white shirt." Skie said quickly.

"No. You've got to be wearing a dress! A big nice elegant dress! And Ian, you've got to be wearing a tux! A nice elegant tux!"

"Well, dad, we don't want a big fuss over the wedding. We're just gonna have a simple one with just the crew and her family."

"No big wedding?"

The two shook their heads.

Shanks looked around the living room on the main floor and said, "Fine. If you two lovebirds want a simple, small wedding, that's ok. Or we could just wait till we get back to the ship, however we do that, and have a big wedding then!"

"Nope! We're fine!" Skie said quickly, looking as if she was trying anything to get off of the subject.

"How's about if we get back to the ship before the wedding date, we'll have a big wedding on the ship?" Ian said, really not know what he was doing. He was with his father, for crying out loud! He never really knew what was happening.

"Alright!" Shanks said and then laid down on the davenport and took a nap.

When Skie and Ian got back upstairs and into Skie's bedroom, she exploded, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Do you really think we're going to get back to the ship before June?"

"Where do you think Ia and Sanji are?"

"Wait... he did say that he was on our ship... That's probably where Sanji and Ia are!"

"Ya think?"

"How did they get there, I wonder?" Ian asked himself aloud.

"Could you pay attention to this problem we're at?" Skie yelled.

"We'll just have to pretend we're planning a wedding when dad's around, ok?"

Skie glared then said, "Fine." and sat down on her bed. She and Chey now permanently shared this room so they got twin beds. Skie had a sky blue comforter and Chey had a dark purple comforter.

Ian sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

H-E-R-E-Y-E-S

Cam sat there in the kitchen on the chair on the checkered floor.

"Are you eating an onion?" Izzy asked as she walked in. It was about two in the morning and she was wearing a pair of red pajama pants and a matching white pajama top. Her hair was in pigtails and she looked like she never had fallen asleep yet that night.

"No, I'm just holding it."

Izzy stared then said, "Alright. I kinda figured out why you're sitting here in the dark."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Gosh, I wish I was here from the beginning."

"What?"

"Yeah, when this whole thing started. Sanji told me about how this really annoying 16-year-old came on the ship. She just appeared, and apparently that's Ia?"

"Yeah. I remember that. It was like around the end of Junior Year. She just went missing! Then during Senior year she and Skie just appeared in Lake Superior during November. Then all the weirdness started to happen again. Then I got sucked into all of it!"

Izzy listened carefully to Cam's story, thinking there might be someway around this. Nobody knew this, but Izzy was very smart. She just had so many identities that it just so happens, she was taught about science for the month before she got on the Barati. She spent it traveling with a Science Professor from the University on Cailo Island on the Grand Line. He taught her about these random portals that appeared in the Grand Line due to the Grand Line's weirdness. They were very anti-climatic and were invisible. In the worlds that they exit in, they're huge and are very climatic. Like they were showing off. But then there's the fact that they keep targeting Ia?

"So... where was she when she first got sucked into my world?"

"She said she was going to Science. The hallway was empty and a giant cyclone appeared in the hallway and she got sucked into it. She got back on the ship... it steered clear into the lake."

Izzy pondered over this as she leaned against the counter. Maybe the way to get back is the way Ia got there in the first place. But then how did she and Sanji get there if they were in the kitchen at the time?

"Could you show me where?"

W-E-L-C-O-M-E-T-O-T-H-E-J-U-N-G-L-E

"Are you done yet?" Sanji yelled up to Ia, who was sewing the sail back together with the sewing kit she found under Usopp's bed.

"No. I just started! You try to sew the tattered remains of a sail back together!" Ia shouted back down to him.

Sanji shook his head and walked back inside the ship.

J-A-I-L-H-O-U-S-E-R-O-C-K

They reached the High School rather quickly. Thankfully, it was still open.

It was the next day, around 6:00 PM. The radio was playing through the halls and there were a few kids from Drivers waiting for the 7:00 class to begin. They were finishing their homework for the class.

There were about a dozen older people, bigger people, walking around the halls. The High School's main floor hallway wrapped around in a big circle with classrooms in the center and on the outside of the circle. They entered in the lobby, a big opening where you could see down the first hallway, the big trophy cases, the big brick pillars, and the Principal's office.

"Where do we go now?" Izzy asked and Cam led her past the main drag hallway, past the pillars to another hallway that the pillars kinda hid. This hallway led to the left, the stairs and the Guidance Office, and to the right, the Commons, Auditorium, and more lockers. These ones yellow.

"589 was her locker, she said that she was at Skie's locker when it happened," Cam then led her down the long hallway, past the bathrooms, the chorus room, the band room and round a corner to Skie's old locker. "Those stairs lead upstairs to the science rooms so she said that she was about to walk when the cyclone appeared. She grabbed onto a locker but was then sucked down." Cam said, pointing out the stairs behind them and the big area of carpet that the cyclone appeared in.

"What's that sound?" Izzy called out into the emptiness.

K-I-D-N-A-P-A-N-D-R-E-U-N-I-O-N

"What's that sound?" Ia asked as she slid down from the top mast.

Sanji looked around and on the horizon he saw dozens beyond dozens of ships heading their way. He couldn't tell if they were navy or Pirate.

"That doesn't look good." Ia said, backing up to the railing of the ship.

"We have to stand and fight!" Sanji called, turning back to her, determination on his face, trying to get her to be brave but it wasn't working.

"THERE'S LIKE FIFTY THOUSAND SHIPS THERE!" Ia screamed, her eyes popping with fear. "PLUS WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THEY'RE NAVY OR PIRATE YET!"

"Calm down," Sanji said, walking over to where she was standing.

The ships were coming in quicker then they had expected and they started firing at them. One cannon ball blasted the water five feet from the ship's starboard side.

"HOLY FRICK THEY'RE FIRING ALREADY!" Ia screamed angrily and swung her arm around in a flat semi circle in front of her and the ship that had shot the cannon ball's bow smashed in and it sank instantly.

Anger swelled around her and she picked up the next two ships with giant swells of water shooting straight up about 100 feet in the air, dropping the two ships. One somewhere in the island and the other way out to sea.

The next row of ships had five ships. She took them all out by pushing them over like dominoes using her mind. Sanji had never seen her like this. Being able to push over five giant navy ships from this far away blew him out of the water.

The ships behind the first three rows were starting to catch on that they probably shouldn't continue forward and they were all trying to turn around and speed away from the psycho girl on the Pirate ship but she blew up one ship, imploded the next. Sent the next ship flying and the ship after that, she submerged that like it was nothing. After that, the rest of the ships were too far away.

"Oh, my God..." was all that Sanji could say. He looked over at Ia, who was still fuming. "The hell was all that about?"

Her neck snapped towards him, her face still steaming with anger as she said, "They all got on my last nerve," she said slowly yet forcefully. Scarily. "Thank God that it wasn't you." He didn't know how to take that. As an order, or as her saying it to him. He silently took it as an order and was happy that it wasn't he who had gotten on her last nerve. Then he would have ended up under the Grand Line.

"I don't think I've ever seen so many ships taken out so quickly." He said, still in astonishment.

Ia still continued to glare at him when she started saying, under her breath, "I wish I was home." over and over and over again. She had on flip flops yet she still tapped her heals together three times. Over and over again to see if it would really work.

Sanji walked over closer to her as she continued to mutter under her breath. He gently tipped her head up by her chin so she would face him.

They didn't notice as they leaned closer to each other the chocking feeling around them and suddenly, it was cooler, the air felt thinner, and two people were standing four feet away from them on the dark multi colourd carpet.

* * *

4-18-08

Ooo. Bad. But, look on the bright side! I did NOT write this part on the 14th! does happy dance

Tis not a happy day for them.

SONgTimE

Promise Kept- From Titanic  
Another Story- From Harry Potter and the Goble of Fire  
Ticket to Ride- The Beatles  
Her Eyes- Pat Monahan  
Welcome to the Jungle- Guns n Roses  
Jailhouse Rock- Elvis  
Kidnap and Reunion- From Anastasia


	22. Valentine's Day

Badness...

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Sanji!" Izzy said very loudly and hurt.

The two turned their heads sharply to see Cam and Izzy standing there in front of the blue lockers.

"We're back?" Ia said quietly so only Sanji heard.

"What are you two doing?" Izzy shouted reproachfully, edging nearer to them.

"Nothing! Nothing Izzy-chan!" Sanji said, shoving Ia away from him and putting on a sheepish grin as Izzy glared him down.

Ia, being shoved back, hit the wall and glared at Sanji, rubbing her shoulder where she had smashed into the wall. She looked at Cam.

He was staring at her, not really glaring, but it felt just the same.

She couldn't say anything in front of Sanji, so she walked towards the Band room door, looked at him once, and walked in, Cam followed her.

She rubbed her hands on her arms to keep them warm in the chilly, semi-dark band room. Or Orchestra Room if you were in Orchestra. Ia was still wearing Luffy's shorts and Nami's bikini top.

"What were you doing with Sanji, huh?" Cam shouted quickly and angrily.

"He," she emphasized this word, "was kissing," she emphasized 'kissing' as well, "me." she ended.

Cam looked at her piercingly. She was thankful that he could't read minds like her.

"He was trying to calm me down. I had gotten really angry and I blew up nine or ten ships that were heading for us. I was still fuming and he walked over and all of a sudden we were right back here in the High School." she said truthfully, hoping he would believe her. He did trust her, right?

F-A-I-T-H-F-U-L-L-Y

"I WANT SOME GROG!" Shanks shouted loudly as he sat there in the living room of the downstairs. Skie and Ian stranded in the kitchen. Everybody else asleep. Amazing that Shanks wasn't waking them up.

"What are we going to do? We don't have beer in this house!" Skie hissed at Ian.

"Isn't there a store right over there?" Ian asked.

"I'm not 21 yet!"

"So?"

"Here you have to be 21 to buy beer." Skie said, chastisingly.

"That makes no sense!" Ian hissed loudly as Shanks continued to shout for beer.

"Well... uh... give him this grape juice and tell him it's wine! Maybe he'll believe it." Skie said as she poured some dark grape juice into a wine glass that was still there from Ia's grandparents.

"Alright." he said and they went into the living room and gave Shanks the drink. He was out like a light.

"Weird." Skie whispered.

When Ian left to go over to Ia's parents' house, Skie went upstairs and found Ia on the couch, staring blankly out the window directly across the room from her.

"What are you doing?" Skie asked and Ia turned. She was now wearing her jeans and her blue plaid sweatshirt.

"What is wrong with me?" she asked, more to herself then to Skie.

"Well-" Skie started but was cut off when Ia said, "It was a rhetorical question!"

"You said that you didn't even kiss?" Skie said, recalling when Ia told her the entire thing when she had gotten there a few hours before. It was now around midnight.

"It was almost. Our lips were just barely touching when Izzy broke it. Remind me to thank her tomorrow."

"Is she and Sanji still going at it?" Skie asked.

"They made up, remember. But she's not as forgiving as Cam is so she's not speaking to Sanji, or me, for that matter."

"Sounds like a plus. Where's Nami?"

"In my room. I'm gonna stay out here tonight." Ia said and laid down across the couch.

"Alright, good night." Skie said as she entered her's and Chey's bedroom.

"Night."

A-S-K-T-H-E-L-O-N-E-L-Y

"Did you hit him?"

"No, we just found him like this and then we went to bed."

"Are you sure... he's still out..." Ia said to Skie as they looked at the still unconscious Shanks.

"Well..." Skie said as Shanks started jerking in the big red wingback chair that he was in. "He's alive, we know that!"

"So, you're getting married! Who's the maid of honor?" Ia asked and out of nowhere, Chey appeared behind Ia, both of them looking at Skie with fierce eyes, both wanting to know the answer.

"Um... um... You both know it's not a _real _wedding, right?"Skie asked, uncertainly.

"Real wedding or not, he's gonna ask you sooner or later, and sooner or later you're going to have to answer him." Chey said, crossing her arms like Ia.

"Um... er... um...," then Skie gave a complete and pulled out of the air answer, "Amber!"

"Amber?" Ia and Chey asked, unfolding their arms in unison and staring at Skie.

"Yes. My sister is gonna be my Maid of Honor!" she said and swiftly walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Skie-Chan." Ian said as she walked in and Ian was holding a knife.

"Hey, what's that for?"

"I'm making a sandwich for dad, for when he wakes up." Ian said and started cutting up tomato.

"Shouldn't Sanji be doing that?"

"I would have asked, but I don't know where Sanji is right now?" Ian said.

T-H-E-G-R-A-N-D-I-L-L-U-S-I-O-N

Down in 'the cave,' Sanji and Izzy were there, talking out what had happened in privacy. This was the safest place for them, for they knew that the one person who they really did not want to be snooping around was never going to go down there without an unavoidable reason. So, Ia wasn't going to go down there, ever.

"I'm actually surprised that I'm sticking it out with you." Izzy said angrily as she stood near the christmas decorations that were on the wall that you first see coming down the stairs. Sanji on the opposite.

"I am too, Bella-chan." he said, using her pet name that he only called her when there wasn't anybody around.

"Why do you keep doing crap like this?" Izzy shouted at him, he made a gesture to tell her to keep her voice down.

"I don't know..."

"I thought you were _over_ _her_." Izzy spat.

"I never hit her."

Izzy's eyes widened and she said, "I figured."

Sanji started pacing around the cement room. "I... I never ment for you to see or know about that. I was trying to calm her down, she was really angry."

"Probably not as angry as me right now." Izzy said, her voice low and full of venom.

Sanji decided to go with her on that, happy that she didn't have Ia's power... but he wondered what would happen if she morphed into Ia's form. He decided not to ask her.

"Yeah, you're like a hurricane right now!" he said, smiling a little.

Izzy glared.

Sanji decided to use the cliched phrase in saying, "You're pretty when you're mad!"

Thankfully, Izzy had a big enough ego that it would take that as a compliment and she smiled a little.

"I am. But that's beyond the point."

"Prettier then Ia when she's mad. Way prettier." he stressed the 'way.'

Izzy smiled broadly, "I am! I really am!" she said and twirled her fingers around the end of one of her long pigtail braids.

"You're so pretty at all times of the day!" Sanji said, walking towards Izzy as she smiled. Her blue eyes looking up at him.

F-O-O-L-I-N-G-Y-O-U-R-S-E-L-F

January flew by and all of a sudden, it was the middle of February and everybody knew what that ment. It was February 13th.

"So, son, what are you and the sky doing for Valentine's Day?" Shanks asked Ian one day as they sat in the downstairs kitchen. The girls were all in Marquette shopping, Cam, Zac, Luffy, and Usopp were playing Halo 3 while Sanji, Zoro, and Chopper watched.

"It's just Skie, and how do you know about Valentine's Day?" Ian asked as he brought his father over a cup of grape juice. Shanks believed it was still wine.

"I heard the girls talking about it a few days ago. They said they're all doing something for it. What are you and the sky doing?"

"Skie, and we don't really have anything planned. It's not really a big holiday." Ian said, sitting down with a glass of water across the small table from his old looking, half-crazy father.

"That Ia girl you liked and her husband are doing something. The swordsman and his girl are doing something. Your sister is doing something with that freak. Why not you?"

"We're not really into this holiday," Ian replied, still annoyed by the fact that he only knew four people's names in this house. His and Izzy's, Ia's and Luffy's. The only reason he remembered Ia's was because Ian stupidly told him he once had a crush on her. So, he's been getting closer to Ia. Talking to her and getting to know her, so one day he can possibly, old man style, black mail her. Meaning he'll do it in the stupidest of ways and she'd probably kick him to get him to stop. "And Ia and Cam arn't married!"

"Why? It's the holiday of love! You've gotta be into that, for God's sake! You're getting married! And she's not married to him? Huh... could've sworn they were. They sure do act like it. With that ring and all."

"Wait, what- nevermind," he just figured his father was seeing things now. "How come you haven't asked Izzy when she's getting married to Sanji?" Ian interjected quickly to change the subject.

"Is that his name? Huh... Well, I did. She said they weren't yet. So I told her she couldn't be with him unless they were getting married, then she said they weren't together and that was that!"

"But you just said that they're doing something tomorrow?" Ian asked, confused by his father's senility.

"They are."

Ian shook his head as Shanks said, "Where am I?"

L-A-U-R-A

"So, Skie, what are you and Ian doing tomorrow?" Chey asked, leaning up from the back seat to look at Skie who was riding shotgun in Ia's car as Ia drove down County Road 480 towards Buffalo Road. She liked to take the long way home.

"Nothing, really." Skie said, not turning to look at Chey, but continuing to look out the window at the snow covered trees.

"Why?" Ia asked, turning to look at Skie.

"IA WATCH THE ROAD!" the backseat yelled, even though Nami and Izzy couldn't drive at all, they still knew what you weren't aloud to do while driving.

"I'm fine!" she barked back at them, then turned to Skie and asked, "How come you guys aren't going out? Hell, you're getting 'married,' shouldn't you be doing couple stuff even if you weren't?" Ia asked as they went down the steep hill slowly. Her voice stiffened on the 'married' part but Ia now had completely let go of the wheel, her mind took over.

"Yeah!" Chey agreed.

"We're just not! Ok!" Skie shouted, turning to the both of them.

"Sanji and I are doing something." Izzy pipped up from the back seat.

Everybody turned to her, "I thought you two weren't a thing anymore?" Ia asked, completely turned around in her seat.

"We're not apart. He's cooking us a romantic meal and we're having a nice dinner together! He managed to get all the boys out of the downstairs, too!"

"Well, I've got Sanji cooking us a meal that we're going to eat in my room while watching random movies. One of them is Epic Movie, another is Shaun of the Dead!" Ia said as they turned around a corner and across train tracks.

"Zoro and I are going to be outside!"

"It's going to be around zero tomorrow." Skie said, all of them looking at Chey as she sat in the middle of the backseat.

"Really? That warm! Well, we're going to be walking around the caving grounds, looking up at the stars and talking!" Chey said, smiling uncontrollably.

"You have to marry him, cuz then I'll be your maid of honor!" Ia said sharply to Chey and Skie said, "Oh my God, are you still upset about that?"

"No, I'm just saying that I'd be the best cuz you'd be wearing jeans underneath the dress."

Chey started giggling at that as Ia turned back to face the road, a smirk on her face.

G-I-M-M-E-A-L-L-Y-O-U-R-L-O-V-I-N

Skie walked into the back shed last, not wanting to be around Ia, Chey, Izzy, and Nami (the romantics) any longer when she saw that Ian was standing there.

"Hey, Ian." she said and went up and kissed him.

"Hey, Skie-Chan... uh... do you... er, wanna do something tomorrow?"

Skie looked up from putting her shoes away in the corner of the room and said, "Like what?"

"I dunno... something... romantic...?" he asked all awkwardly, not slyly like a normal person would do.

"Did Ia and Chey get to you?" Skie asked quickly, thinking of what she could do to get them back for this.

"No, no. My dad did." he said, looking a little disgusted at this.

"O-oh." Skie said, a little disgusted at that, too.

"So... do you?"

"Well, what did you have in mind?" she asked, thinking about what Ia, Chey, and Izzy were doing.

"Um... well, we could always go to the Up Front again?"

Skie thought about that night a while ago when warmth wasn't such a fantasy. She smiled at the memory.

"Well, do you know what everybody else is doing?" she asked.

"I know what Iz and Sanji are doing. But what are the others doing?" Ian asked as he and Skie walked into the back spa bathroom that was converted from the old bedroom when Ia's grandmother had come back from the Nursing Home after she was finished with the Chemo. It was only the spa bathroom because it had it's own sauna in it.

"Ia and Cam are just sitting up in Ia's room, eating food that Sanji made and watching non-romantic movies. Then Chey and Zoro are going out walking around the caving grounds."

"Oh... well... I've got it!" he said suddenly and left the room quickly.

"Wait," Skie called before he turned into the kitchen, "What is it?" she asked when he turned.

He smiled and said, "You'll see!"

C-A-N-T-B-U-Y-M-E-L-O-V-E

Skie entered her room to find her roomie, Chey, and Ia sitting on Chey's bed which was the furthest from the door.

"What?"

Ia's face was twisted, trying to keep from laughing which she was never good at.

"What is it, Chey?"

Then they both fell over laughing.

"WHAT!?" Skie squealed and walked over, bearing over the two girls.

"Well... let's just say it involves roses, waffles, and silver!" Ia managed to say in-between gasps.

S-W-E-E-T-E-M-O-T-I-O-N

The next day (Valentimes Day) was an overcast day. It was lightly snowing when they all woke up and instantly started getting ready for the day. Nobody more than Ian.

Ia stepped out of her room still in her pajamas, holding her clothes in her arms, when there was a knock on the door.

She opened the door without moving from her doorway and in walked Ian with a breakfast tray with a pile of chocolate chip waffles, a cup of milk, some silverware, a bottle of syrup, and a white rose with red edges on the petals in a pretty vase.

"Whoa... where'd you find that rose?"

"I bought it!" Ian said defiantly.

Ia looked unconvinced as she said, "When'd ya get to Marquette?"

He didn't say anything as he went towards Skie and Chey's room and Ia said, "I wouldn't just yet. Wait till Chey gets up." then Ia lifted herself off the floor so she was floating about two inches above the floor as she silently opened the door and floated in and came out with the waking Chey, levitating her to the couch.

"Morning, Chey! Ian's doing part one of the major romantic day plan for Skie, so I had to take you out!"

"Mmmff? Kay." she said and went back to sleep on the couch.

Ia shrugged and went into the bathroom and locked the door.

F-O-O-L-S-R-U-S-H-I-N

About 25 minutes later, Cam and Zoro walked into the apartment and heard a few things. One was the shower that Ia was currently using, second was the music she was playing (which was Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses) and the TV going in the living room where Chey was, still in her pajamas because Ian and Skie were in her room.

"Chey, why aren't you dressed?" Zoro asked as he and Cam walked into the living room and saw Chey slouching on the couch, remote in one hand, tea in the other. She was flipping through the random 10Am shows that played on a Friday morning.

"I can't go in my room yet. Not till Skie and Ian come out."

Zoro and Cam, in unison, snapped their necks towards the door to the bedroom.

"W-where's Ia?" Cam asked, turning his head slowly back to face the mussy-haired Chey.

"She's in the shower." Chey replied as they heard the music stop playing and the door open violently.

In the living room stepped Ia, wearing jeans, dark blue socks, her dark red polo and her dark red hair in a green towel.

"Morning!" she said brightly. The faint smell of green apples was coming off of her as she stood there.

Zoro took a step back from her and claimed that his nose was irritated. Ia shot him a dark glare.

N-I-N-E-T-E-E-N

The rest of the day was spent mostly alone. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were over at Ia's parents' house with Sarah. Nami was with them, supervising.

Back at the house, Izzy and Sanji were taking over the downstairs while Ia and Cam dominated the upstairs. Chey and Zoro were already gone and Skie and Ian were forced into the only room that they were allowed in without being yelled at. Skie's bedroom.

"So, you have a three-part-plan?" Skie asked, smirking, from her bed as Ian paced the floor in front of her. They had just knocked out Shanks for a good twelve hours and stuck him in the basement.

"Yes," he replied back to her as he stopped pacing and looked at her through his lovely silver coloured eyes.

"Well, what is it?" Skie asked, crossing her arms across her chest as she wore a sky blue sweatshirt with big white puffy clouds on it. She had on a dark pair of jeans and her socks were white. Her hair was down, of course, and she sighed.

"You already had the first part," Ian said, sitting on the bed beside Skie. She turned to look at him as he looked at her.

"The breakfast?"

"Yes,"

"Well, what's the other two?"

"Hold on," he said and got down on one knee to reach under a pair of Skie's dirty jeans. He pulled something out and held it in his hand. "Now, you have to promise not to scream. I've already got Ia to swear on her boyfriend's life that she would not listen to our thoughts until my dad wakes up. So, please, do not scream."

"Why would I- OH MY GOD!" she yelled when Ian opened his fist to reveal a diamond ring.

"I said no screaming!" he laughed as she took the ring from his palm and stared at it. It was a pretty ring, nay, a _beautiful_ ring! It was on a silver band and the diamond was a Princess Cut with two smaller Princess Cut diamonds on either side of it.

"_Oh my goodness!" _she hissed in excitement as she slid it onto her left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"I knew you'd like it! See, Skie, that's surprise number two. This is surprise number three, will you _really _marry me?"

Skie stared, a mix of surprise and shock on her face.

"Skie... are... are you ok?"

"YES!"

* * *

5-3-08

Holy crap, this took forever to write!

Oh my God... songTIme...

Faithfully- Journey  
Ask the Lonely- Journey  
The Grand Illusion- Styx  
Foolin Yourslef- Styx  
Laura- Flogging Molly  
Gimme All Your Lovin- ZZ Top  
Can't Buy Me Love- The Beatles  
Sweet Emotion- Aerosmith  
Fool's Rush In- Bow Wow Wow  
Nineteen- Teagn and Sara


	23. Secrets

Hello, again...

Chapter Twenty-Three

A snow storm was covering Negaunee in 18 inches of snow. It was a week after Valentine's Day and everybody was trapped in the house, for it was ten below outside and their cars were now just snow banks. School had been out the day before and it was out again today. Ia, Skie, Chey, Zac, and Cam remembered having snow storms like this before. The crew was freaked out beyond all believe.

"Why is it so cold?" Izzy asked as she and Sanji cuddled on the davenport in the downstairs livingroom. Izzy was wearing a sweatshirt she had 'borrowed' from Ia and sweat pants she had 'borrowed' from Chey. She had on two pairs of socks and a hat, even though they were inside.

"I don't know, Bella-chan." Sanji cooed in her ear. He was wearing his winter jacket Skie had gotten him for Christmas and a hat that she had gotten him to match. He had on three pairs of socks and his regular pants.

Luffy and Usopp came in wearing identical winter jackets and winter hats with Luffy having his Straw Hat over the winter one. They had mittens on and Luffy had finally put on pants instead of his shorts. But he refused to put on socks.

"I'm c-c-c-c-c-cold!" Luffy said as he and Usopp sat down on the floor, huddling together to keep warm.

"Don't they have a heater in this place?" Izzy yelled out.

The door opened from the front shed as Ia and Zac walked into the living room. Ia had on her swim sweatshirt from Sophomore year, the one that said 'Shimmy' on the back, and her jeans with her dark blue knee high socks. Her hair was down. Zac had on his regular black sweatshirt, black pants, white socks.

"You guys going outside?" Ia asked, interrupting her conversation she had been having with Zac to ask Luffy.

"No! We're COLD!" Izzy shouted.

"It's not that cold in here." Ia said flatly as she and Zac walked to the kitchen were Zoro and Chey were. Zoro in a big sweatshirt that Chey had gotten him for Christmas (all black) and his black pants and no shoes.

T-O-X-I-C

It was about two in the morning later that night.

Everyone was alseep... or so they thought.

Sanji laid awake, staring at the ceiling as he thought about his love. A scowl stole across his face.

He roughly got up and tip toed across the living room and silently shut the door and quickly made it upstairs.

He found the key to the door in one of Ia's shoes this time. The girls typically hid it randomly in one of their shoes. Every night it was a different shoe. This night, it was at the toe of one of Ia's white winter boots with the faux fur lining.

Sanji stole inside the apartment, which was a bit warmer then the rest of the house. He looked to his immediate left and saw that Ia's door was open a crack. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowly opened it wider.

Ia was dead to the world as she slept there on her bed beside the window where he couldn't see outside since the blinds were drawn. A small hum filled the room in a lullabying way and he felt a little sleepy. He found that it was the space heater that was beside the door that was giving off the hum and the stupefying heat.

He closed the door so it was as it was when he found it and went over to Ia, who was wearing the red pajamas with the penguins on them. Her hair was in pigtail braids and she had four big blankets on top of her plus her dark pink cuddle blanket her Grandma Betty had made her and her white baby blanket that her Grandma Vera had made her.

He gently shook her as he said quietly, "Ia... Ia! IA!"

"Wha?" she said suddenly, jerking awake.

"Oh, good, you're awake!" he said, pulling her office chair over and sitting on it.

"What the hell time is it, Sanji." she said, not opening her eyes as she spoke.

"Um, 2:07 AM." he said, looking at the luminous red numbers on her clock.

"Good night." she said and tried to turn back over to fall asleep, but Sanji caught her before she could do that and said, "I need to talk to you!"

Her green eyes opened as she glared at him. Her face turning a slight shade of jade.

"Ia... your eyes!"

"What about them?" she snapped as she sat up and pulled the translucent curtain around so she could see him better.

"They're... glowing green!" he said, shocked. They haven't been like that for a very long time.

She grabbed the tiny mirror that was on her bedside table and stared into it.

"Weird..." she said as they slowly lost their glow and green and went back to their dull dark chocolate brown.

"So... yeah, I need to talk to you?"

"Fine. What about." she asked.

"You don't already know?" he snorted.

"I'm not paying attention to your thoughts. I just had a really disturbing dream about sitting in a meat factory as they butchered cows and made them into steaks," she said, exasperated. "What's worse is that I was enjoying it..."

"That sounds more like Luffy's dream then your's." Sanji said.

"It does... I think it was Luffy's." she said and Sanji continued.

"Well... I'm not so... so sure-"

"That you really _want_ to be with Izzy." Ia finished for him, now reading his thoughts. Sorting through them like they were a deck of cards thrown on the floor and she wanted to get them into their same suits.

"Yes." Sanji said shamefully.

Ia was silent. She knew that he didn't know what to say after this.

"So," Ia started, "_Why are you here_?"

"I... uh- what's that?" he asked, spotting a small diamonded ring on Ia's left hand.

"What's what?" she asked, but slowly placed her hand under her blankets.

Sanji quickly grabbed her wrist and brought her hand up so he could clearly see the classic cut diamond on her left ring finger.

"You're... how long?" he said slowly, not wanting this to be real.

Ia sighed, not trying to prevent anything anymore, and said, "He asked me on my birthday, ok! That was my birthday present from him. I agreed, as you can see." she said almost a little bitterly. Her face was now a shade of red that Sanji could see in the orange light coming from the streelight reflecting off of the millions of snowflakes outside her bedroom window. She was smiling.

"Since SEPTEMBER?" he shouted and suddenly it felt like there was something over his mouth and he couldn't open it.

"SHHHH! Yes! Since September."

"How come I didn't notice before?" Sanji hissed when he could open his mouth again.

"Because nobody's very observant and I've been hiding it very well, OK? Now, this isn't about me, this is about you. Why don't you think you can be with Izzy?"

Sanji let out a big breath and said, exasperatedly, "She's just so... so..."

"Annoying, controlling, invasive, jealous, overprotective, bitcy, sinister, stupid, uncreative-"

"No!" Sanji interrupted, "Cold." he said slowly.

"Cold?" Ia asked, not really getting what he was going for this time.

"Yes, she's not very... warm to me. I look at you and," he paused, trying to keep the venom out of his voice as he said this, "Cam... and I see warmth. You two are carefree to each other. With Izzy, I feel like she's keeping a lot from me. I don't know her like I should, I feel like she's controlling me and that she'd prefer to talk about how much she hates you instead of... well, anything else." he finished with an air of hopelessness.

Ia smirked, "Ha, she does hate me! I knew it! But, she's got a LOT that she hasn't told you, about as much as she hasn't told Ian. And Ian and her were together till she was twelve! And he knows more about Skie then he does her. Like, do you even know her biggest pet peeve?" Ia asked Sanji, looking him straight in the eye.

"Yeah! It's... uh... I actually don't." he said, disappointed in himself... and Izzy.

"Well, it's people who show her up in anything! From looks to breathing. She hates me for about everything! I can hold my breath longer than her and she wants to hack my head off." Ia said, her voice full of annoy and smugness.

"Well... she does like to be the best..." Sanji said in a mutter, proud of himself that he knew something about Izzy. "Do you know anything about her?"

"Please!" Ia said, her voice full of happiness that she gets to gossip about her worst enemy. "I know so much I could write a story about it!" she paused and said, "What would you like to know?"

Sanji thought she sounded like a human encyclopedia the way she asked him. He eventually asked the question he was too afraid to ask Izzy herself, "Does she really love me?"

Ia's smile dropped a bit and the gleam in her eyes faded slightly, but she said, "Yes,"

"Then why is she acting so distant?" he really felt like he was seeing a Psychiatrist and they weren't talking about his mind.

Ia sighed as she tried to choose her words, "Well... this is actually quite funny! She's very jealous of her brother and his 'bride-to-be.'" Ia said, smirking.

"Really? She's jealous of Ian and Skie? Why?"

Ia stared at him like he was stupid or something, "Are you stupid or something?" she asked quickly, "Were you not listening? 'Bride-to-be?' 'Fiancee?' Ring any bells?" she nearly yelled, leaning towards him, getting quite angry.

Sanji finaly, _finally, _figured it out.

"Ia!" he yelled when he looked back at Ia, who was curling up under her covers again.

"What." she barked, still facing the wall.

"Thanks." he said and was about to leave the room when Ia yelled, "You can't tell ANYBODY about the ring, got it?"

"Ok." he said and left the room quickly.

Ia looked a little worried as she fell back asleep.

M-A-S-Q-U-E-R-A-D-E

The next morning, around 6:30, Ia walked into Zac and Cam's room wearing her pajama's still but with her light blue fuzzy slippers on her feet.

She observed that Zac was still asleep on the bed and she lifted him out of the room and onto the dinging room table and shut the door quietly without moving from her spot at the foot of the beds, in-between both of them.

Ia watched her fiancé sleep for a minuted or two, then kicked the bed roughly.

"The hell?" Cam yelled, jerking up and seeing his finacee standing there, a look of ruling on her face as she stood over him. "Ia-chan... what are you doing here?" he asked, twisting around from his stomach to a sitting position while Ia sat down on Zac's bed, across from Cam.

Ia's face was still calm and dark looking when she held up her left hand.

"The ring, yes. What about it? Are you giving it back?" he asked, in a slight panicky tone.

"No. But, let's just say, oh hypothetically, someone on the crew knew about it?" Ia said in a light, conversational tone of voice.

Cam's face went from panic to anger in less then a quarter of a second, well, he was fast.

"How does Onion know?"

"Why would you jump to Sanji? And would you stop calling him that-"

"No."

Ia continued as if she didn't hear him, "Well, he was in my room last night-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Sanji was in _your room_?" Cam said, in a very parental tone.

"We were talking about him and Izzy," Ia snapped. Neither of them were good when they were roughly woken up in the early morn.

"Does he want me to kick his ass?" Cam asked, exasperatedly, his head bent backwards in irritance.

"Apparently. So, what are we going to do?" Ia asked, her anger wiping away, dissolving into something like worry. "What I mean is... are we going to tell anybody soon?"

"Did you tell anybody in this house?"

"No." Ia said truthfully. Technically, Sanji found out all on his own.

"Did you tell your family?"

Ia looked unblinkingly at him for a while and said, "If I had, everybody in the western world would know right now. You know Auntie Sherrie!"

"Oh yeah-"

"And my grandpa!"

"Yeah yeah... don't remind me." Cam said, suppressing a shudder. Her Grandpa Boosta was odd, let's leave it at that.

"And mom would tell Grama Betty and then the eastern world would know-"

"I get it. So I take it that's a no?" he said teasingly.

Ia gave him a look of 'be serious now.'

"Have you told your family?" Ia asked him as she crossed her legs Indian style on the bed, sliding the slippers off her feet and curling her feet beneath her legs to keep them warm.

"You would know if I did."

"Oh yeah, Courtney would have been freaking out months ago about dresses." Ia said, pondering about wedding types of things like what colour dresses the Bride's Maids dresses were going to be. Crimson to match the roses she would be carrying, or purple because it was just a nice dark colour?

They were silent for a good two minutes before they broke the silence again with this, "Who are we telling first?" Ia asked.

Cam thought and said, "Nobody on your dad's side of the family."

"Not Courtney."

"Unless we want both of our families to know by the end of the day today?"

"You know, just tell Auntie or Boosta and everybody'll know by noon."

"We could just not tell yet." Cam said quietly.

Ia came out of her staring at the closet door to snap her neck back to Cam and said, "Sounds good."

"Good."

She then got up to leave and left the door wide open, showing that she 'forgot' to put Zac back in his bed and he was sleeping quite peacefully on the dinging room table.

D-E-F-Y-I-N-G-G-R-A-V-I-T-Y

When everybody else woke up around nine thirty that morning, they found that everything was covered in two and a half feet of clear white snow and that they couldn't even see the road because the plows have already been around Negaunee.

"Whoa!" was Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Izzy, Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and Ian's reply when they looked out the window. Ia, Cam, Zac, Chey, and Skie were standing behind them, looking at their completely surprised faces as they stared out the window that had the top of the snow at the very bottom of it.

"It's like they've never seen snow before." Chey said as she stood there in her violent purple silk-like pajama pants and a lavender top to match, which was a tanktop, but she had on a fluffy violet robe. Skie was in flannel pajamas that seemed a size too big for her as the sleeves were haning past her hands and the pants were bunched up at her feet which had bright green socks on them to match the lime green of her pajamas with little pens on them. Both girls had their hair down while Ia still had it in the pigtailed French braids that Chey had done the night before. But the guys were differently dressed in pajamas that matched their personalities like the girls' matched theirs. Zac was wearing a simple white tee-shirt with black pajama pants and white socks while Cam had on a dark grey shirt with dark blue pajama pants on and nothing on his feet. Both of them had tussled hair.

The crew's pajamas were slightly different. Luffy, not surprisingly, was wearing his simple red tank top and blue shorts and his hat while Usopp was in footsy-pajamas that were dark blue almost black with little jolly rogers on them but he had the decency to put on his overalls over the pajamas to make him look less babyish while the girls were down there. It was Ia and Chey who had gotten Usopp those pajama's when he first complained it was cold way back in October. Sanji was wearing an old shirt of Cam's that was a lighter grey and black flannel pajama pants that had little pots and pans on them that Chey and Skie had gotten him a while back. Zoro was wearing his black pants and that was about it. His long scar seemed to be more noticeable in the cold. Chopper didn't need pajamas so Ia got him a little blanket and pillow for him to sleep on. He protested at first but when he found out how warm and soft they were, he stoped and just slept happily. Now, Nami and Izzy, on the otherhand, both wore something completely different of each other. While Izzy just wore a big shirt of a faded light blue with black leggings on her legs, Nami wore a silk (actual silk) nightdress that was more like lingerie then actual pajamas that reached just past her hips and had a black silk robe to match the lace that was on it that was also black. The rest was of a dark crimson red, Ia's favourite colour and she sometimes accused Nami of stealing her colour. Yes, it was very childish, but there's Ia for you.

"Not this MUCH of snow!" Sanji cried suddenly and quickly glanced from Ia to Izzy.

"Well, looks like we're all stuck here, there's no way I'm diging my car out." Ia said, looking outside herself.

"But you can move water? You just flick your wrist and it's all gone!" Usopp said, getting confused.

"Just because I can doesn't mean I am." Ia said and turned on her heal and headed into the kitchen, dragging Skie behind her like a kidnapper.

"I'ma pen you!" she threatened when they finally got into the safety of the large bathroom.

"I know your secret." Ia said quickly and darkly in her own manner that made Skie forget all about penning her when she got the chance.

"What?" she whispered.

"Yes... I'm not blind, however everyone else in this house is, I'm not." she said in a debatable tone that sounded like she was having a well developed and prepared conversation with someone of a slightly higher social status then she was, and she was good at it.

"Blind? B-blind about what?" Skie said, backing up against the wall of the sauna, the door opening slowly of its own accord, or was it because Ia was trying to lead her into a very small room with its own stove?

Skie watched as water from the toilet bowl came out of the bowl in a thick stream and wrapped itself around Skie's tiny wrist and instantly froze, locking her left hand in an ice bracelet that smelled vaguely of Lysol. Then the bracelet lifted up her hand so Ia could see the ring at eye level.

"How nice this ring is... and no wonder Ian didn't let me listen on Valentine's Day!" Ia said quietly, not in her conversational tone anymore.

"Yes, he told me that." Skie said, trying to get her hand back under her control, but was failing miserably. The bracelet of ice was still holding her hand up so Ia could clearly see the princess diamond.

Ia didn't say anything, but finally let go of the ice bracelet when she was finished looking at the ring and quickly slid her own hands into the sleeves of her pajamas. Skie didn't notice this as unusual.

"So, when is the real wedding?" Ia asked, barring the door from Skie.

Skie looked up at her with evil in her eyes and said, "The same."

"So... anybody know yet?" Ia asked, her gaze shifting over to the sink and the mirror over that that, behind it, held the toothpaste and floss and random bathroom things.

"As of now, just you." Skie said, leaning up against the wall of the sauna.

"Sweet!" Ia said, only a little nervously.

Skie cocked and eyebrow, "You seem... weird. Why are you acting like that?"

"I'm not acting any different. It's morning!" she used this as her excuse just as much as she used, 'I'm on the swim team!' "I always act weird in the morning. You know that!"

"You seem too jumpy. Oh well," Skie said and opened the door and was about to step out into the hall when she turned back to Ia and said, "Oh, and Ia,"

"Yeah?" Ia jumped.

"Sanji can't make breakfast this morning, we're all out of good breakfast food and that includes cocoa."

"Damn it." Ia said and followed Skie out into the hall, her hands still safely secure in her pajama sleeves.

* * *

5-17-08 12:24 AM

Well, how's that for taking for-freakin-ever?

SongtimE

Toxic- Brittany Spears  
Masquerade- The Phantom of the Opera  
Defying Gravity- Wicked


	24. Onions and Wedding Dates

Yeah yeah yeah...

Chapter Twenty-Four

It seemed like things were going by so quickly. It was now the begning of March and the snow was still there. Clouds never let the sun peak through to see Negaunee, not like there was much to see since it was now two colours, brown and white. White from the snow, brown from the sand thrown onto the roads and kicked up by cars onto the banks on the sides of the street.

There wasn't much to do around the house, too. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper went out to play almost everyday. Luffy had a project going that they were to make an igloo and then when it was finished, they would jump on it. A bit stupid, but it gave them something to do.

Ia and Skie wrote all day while Sanji cooked and Zoro worked out in the cave. Izzy and Nami talked all day of not much while Cam and Zac played xBox 360. Chey, on the otherhand, read.

Chey was reading one day in Ia's room (because Ia had a space heater and it was especially comfortable in her room with it). She had _Jane Eyre _open on her lap as she sat at the foot of Ia's bed on the crimson comforter that was very puffy. Ia was at head of the bed, her back against the red wall. She was typing away on her laptop when she suddenly brought her head up and said, "I'm retarded."

"What for this time?" Chey asked, not bringing her head up from her book. She also had her back up against the red wall. The translucent curtain over Ia's bed was half open on Chey's side, the red stream of translucent curtain falling in front of Ia's half.

"I just remembered the back apartment! We could stuff everyone back there who doesn't have a bed now!"

"Are they're beds back there?" Chey asked, sitting up and closing her book, dog-earing the page she was on.

"Yeah, pretty sure."

"Well let's go check!" Chey said and they both put down their things, Ia saving her's before she put it down incase some stupid person like Luffy came along and started playing around with it.

The two girls hurtled out of Ia's room and out of the apartment. Down the stairs they went, clomping around, and into the downstairs half of the house. That was where Cam and Zac were playing the 360.

"Where are you going?" Cam called after Ia as she and Chey quick walked through the diningroom.

"Outside." Ia called back after him as they entered then exited the kitchen quickly, passing Sanji, who was sauteing onions. A smell that Ia liked very much, even if she detested onions very much so.

Out to the back shed where they put on their giant winter boots. They left their jackets because it was only 15 or 20 feet to the door to the back apartment.

The wind blew harshly, blowing topsnow into their faces and onto their arms and torsos.

They ran through the foot of snow and entered the back apartment with a sigh of relief. Then they climbed the stairs and took off their wet boots at the top next to the door.

Ia opened the ageing door roughly and instantly felt the cold of the apartment as she and Chey stepped into the kitchen roughly the size of the kitchen in their apartment. It was darkish in the apartment, for the drapes were all drawn, and the white and black checkered floor needed to be cleaned, maybe.

Next to the stove was a bedroom door and Ia walked in, noticing from the last occupants that there were two twin beds in there on the hard wood floor and there was nothing but a dead bug in the closet.

The livingroom and tiny tiny bathroom were being checked out by Chey as Ia crossed through the hallway, passing the bathroom and livingroom which were across the hall from each other, into the next bedroom. Slightly smaller than her own, there were two twin beds in there as well, which meant that Nami and Izzy now had a room and Luffy and Usopp had a room.

"Ha! This couch IS a pullout!" Ia heard Chey claim out in the livingroom.

Ia walked in to see a pulled out pullout.

"Well, there's four beds, five counting that one. Who's all in here then?" Ia asked Chey, sitting down on the folded up couch now.

Chey pondered, "Well, Luffy and Usopp and Chopper don't have real beds. Izzy and Ian are at your mom and dad's house... and then Sanji doesn't really have a bed."

"Oh yeah... forgot about Sanji. Well, I think Chopper could stay in the house. Izzy and Nami can have the big bedroom in the kitchen, Luffy can have the pullout, cuz you know he's not gonna mind, and Usopp and Sanji can have the smaller bedroom over there. That sound good? Cuz I know you and you won't have Zoro out of the main house. Right." Ia said flatly at the end, staring at Chey's guiltily smiling face.

"Yeah!" she said.

K-E-E-N-O-N-B-O-Y-S

So, packing up the boys and girls, they walked them out to the back apartment, after Ia made a path in the snow by making all the snow water then throwing it all over in front of Zac's vehicle, making a nice big snow bank in front of it.

Cam and Zac were very happy that the boys were out of the living room of the downstairs and that the house would be a bit more clean. They didn't, along with the girls, like the fact that there always seemed to be dirty clothes and old food behind the davenport, which was where Sanji use to sleep. Luffy wanted to remain on the floor, but the girls insisted that he use the pullout (because they could just fold up the mess afterwards) and Usopp and Sanji were now VERY happy that they had actual beds!

"OH CRAP!" Ia yelled while Nami, Izzy, Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy were getting their beds made and ready.

"What?" Chey asked, sitting on the counter next to the sink while Ia was standing over in front of the stove.

"I forgot about Ian! Where's he gonna sleep?"

Chey looked surprised and then said, "Too bad we don't have another bed or something." she said, shrugging.

Ia pondered and then snapped her fingers and said she'd be back in a few and out of the house.

Chey watched out of Sanji and Usopp's bedroom window as Ia ran across the street and to her parents' house. She came out five minutes later with a long white bundle in her arms and ran back across the street. There wern't any cars. It was a Thursday around 1:30 PM and nobody would be out. Too cold, too rough, and too annoying.

Chey went back into the kitchen to straighten up a bit when she heard Ia clomping up the stairs loudly, huffing and puffing as she did so. She heard the boots being kicked off and the little shriek of the cold wet melting snow on the floor that she had just stepped in.

Chey was rolling up the sleeves of her sweater as Ia punched open the door with a slam and glared her down, red cheeked and, under her arm, a long white bundle with two wooden sticks sticking out slightly at the end.

"What do you have there?" Chey asked, as she grabbed a rag that she found under the sink and the little bits left of dish soap.

"My mom's hammock!" Ia said, nodding her head once in agreement with herself and smiling, despite the coldness she had just endured.

"What's that for?" Chey asked, running hot water over the now soapy rag and planning on wiping down the counters and the tiny table on the other side of the stove. This apartment hadn't been lived in for about a year. It was Ia and Skie's before Ia's grandfather went to the nursing home and the people above the downstairs moved to a house out on County Road Four Ninety-two. Since then dust had fallen and an occasional bug had crawled in, but other than that, nothing had really happened since then.

"I'm gonna hang it up for Luffy! Ian can have Usopp's bed, Usopp can have the pullout, and Luffy can have the hammock! I think he's been missing the ship too much, so maybe the hammock'll cheer him up!" Ia said brightly as Luffy poked his head in the narrow archway connecting the kitchen to the hallway that lead to a larger archway, which led into the livingroom, the tiny green bathroom, and at the end of the narrow short hallway, the guys' room.

"A hammock?" Luffy asked, walking in in his thick red sweater and jeans. He didn't have socks on and wore his flip-flops everywhere. At least they managed to get him into warmer clothes.

Ia, who was wearing her dark wash jeans, dark blue knee-highs under the jeans, and her plaid dark blue and silver sweatshirt with her Pep Band shirt under it, said, "Yes, Luffy! I got it for you to sleep in! You want to?"

"YES YES YES YES YES!" Luffy shouted happily, jumping up and down, and running into the livingroom.

Ia and Chey laughed and Ia brought the knotted hammock into the livingroom.

D-I-N-N-E-R-I-S-S-E-R-V-E-D

"Is Shanks still on the couch?"

"Davenport, and yes, he is." Ia corrected as she helped Sanji, who had asked the question, chop up onions. She was standing and chopping up the onions manually, since she had brained herself on the windowsill while she and Luffy were putting up the hammock. She said that she'd be fine once she got a good night's sleep, but before then, she couldn't use her mind powers. Well, the Telekinesis powers, really. She could still hear peoples' thoughts clear as a bell!

"Think he'd get mad if I went and saw Izzy tonight!" Sanji said, elbowing Ia slightly, Ia catching his drift.

"Maybe, but the Three Amigops would smack you into tomorrow." she said, smiling and keeping her eyes on the onions she was chopping, trying not to cry.

"The Three Ami-whats?"

"The Three Amigops! Chey, Skie, and me!"

"Ooooh." Sanji said as he continued chopping the beef for the stew they were having that night. A nice warm stew on a cold cold day really hit the spot!

"I take it you and Izzy have been going fine lately." Ia said, making conversation even thought she really never had to. She knew everything about everyone, but was nice enough to still ask.

"Yeah, I think with her dad in town, she's been more of a calmer person." Sanji said as he dropped the beef chunks into the pot boiling on the stove top. The checked white and black floor was dirty, Ia noticed, and it looked like it could really be cleaned. She made a mental note to make one of the boys do it later. Maybe Luffy, if he was bad at supper. But she couldn't see the future (well, not really. She did consider herself a psychic) so she couldn't be too sure.

"I could tell. Shanks has been ordering people around lately. I found him yesterday telling Zac and Nami to bring him to the bathroom! He didn't feel like walking. Good God, he reminds me so much of my grandpa! They should meet and then they could run the whole nursing home! Ha! That'd be hilarious!" Ia said, laughing as she put the onions in the big silver pot as Cam walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, studly!" Ia said as he came over and glared at Sanji.

"Hey, Ia," he said to Ia, "Hello, onion." he said bitterly to Sanji.

"Coconut-head." Sanji said under his breath, but Ia still heard and said, "Can't we all just get along?"

"No!" both boys barked.

Ia rolled her eyes and went over to the fridge. With her back turned, Cam and Sanji exchanged glares and dirty hand gestures to one another.

When Ia turned back around, the two were looking away from each other, still giving each other the finger behind their backs so Ia couldn't see.

"Must you guys swear at each other while I'm in the room?" Ia asked, bringing the container of garlic over to the counter and opening it. Releasing the sweet smell into the air and smiling at the aroma she loved.

"I thought you hit your head on the doorframe?" Cam yelled, upset.

"Windowsill, and I can't move things. So, tell me, why do you two hate each other so?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sanji said icily.

"I can't be the only reason, can I?" Ia said, turning around as she stood in the middle of the two boys and leaning up against the counter with her palms resting on the counter. She looked as if she was about to pull herself up to sit on it, but didn't. The two guys continued to glare at each other.

When the two said nothing, Ia, wide eyed, said, "Oh my God, really? Wow. I like this!"

Sanji growled and Cam arched his back, getting into a stance that would make him at the ready to run over there in a nano second and punch the living daylights out of Sanji.

"Now you guys are just acting like my seven-year-old cousins! Knock it off!" Ia shouted sternly and very much like their mother. "Holy crap, you guys! Face facts! I thought we settled this last time we were on the ship?"

"We did." Cam said, smriking in Sanji's direction, remembering exactly what Ia had said...

FLASH_BACK!_

_Ia sat in her room, reading Treasure Island when Cam and Sanji came in._

_Ia looked up and asked, "Yes?" _

_Cam brought from behind his back the small fairy thing. Bibs was tied up with pink string with her wings tied up as well. She was sitting on Cam's hand and had a very disgruntled look on her face. _

_Ia picked her up and put her on the bed and started to untie her. _

_They stood there for about a few minutes in silence until Sanji yelled, "WHO WON!?" _

_Ia looked up and said, "Well who found her?"_

"_I did." Cam said, smirking at Sanji as he did so._

"_Oh." _

"_So who you gonna pick?" Cam asked._

"_That was the one deciding contest?"_

"_Yes. We figured whoever knew the most about you got to be with you." Sanji said._

"_That's sweet! I was gonna pick Cam anywa- I mean..." Ia said and looked up at the horror stricken face of Sanji._

"_I'm sorry, Sanji. He did win fare and square... but..." _

_Sanji turned around and left the room._

BACK_FLASH!_

"Yeah, we did. So, Sanji, why are you still doing this?"

Sanji looked hard at her and kept saying over and over in his head, _'You know why, you know why, you know why, you know why!'_

Ia looked at him in a disappointed way with sad eyes and said in a quiet and even sadder voice, "If you really thought that, you wouldn't be with Izzy right now, would you."

Sanji felt guilt run through him and it felt weird. It wasn't something he usually felt.

"Wait, I wasn't there when you two first met, right?"

They nodded, remembering well what was going on then.

"Oh yeah... I was kidnaped... anyway, so Sanji, why do you hate Cam?"

"Well, you dumped me about a month before that and he said he was your boyfriend." Sanji explained.

Ia listened and said, "And?"

"Yeah."

"You hate him because he's my boyfriend?"

"Yep."

Ia was frozen in a 'what the hell' kind of look and she then said, "So if he wasn't my boyfriend, you wouldn't hate him."

"If he wasn't your boyfriend when I met him, yeah." Sanji said, nodding.

Ia closed her eyes and seethed for a bit but then understood and said, "Fine. But when I'm in the room, please at least _act _like you like each other, please?" Ia said forcefully and both boys were forced to agree, fearing what Ia might do to them if they didn't.

L-E-A-R-N-T-O-D-O-I-T

They did find out what Ia would do to them.

At supper, Sanji, spooning out the stew to each person at the extended table with magically found chairs to accommodate all those people, managed to 'miss' Cam's bowl and have it all land in his lap. To retaliate, Cam took the stew in his hand and, looking like he never moved from his chair, took his stew and dropped it all down the front of Sanji's pants. Inside his pants.

So Ia sat, indian style, on the counter over the dishwasher as it hummed with the washing of that day's dishes. She watched as Sanji and Cam were down on their hands and knees hand scrubbing the dirty checked white and black floor of the kitchen. Cam on the side with the refrigerator and Sanji on the side with the stove. So they were on opposite sides of the kitchen. Backs to each other, not talking as they felt Ia's evil cold eyes on them as they worked. She found someone to do the floors, she just thought the boys she got wouldn't be so immature.

Sanji took a glace up at Ia and found her gaze to be in a magazine with a big white bridal gown on the cover.

"Hey, Ia?" he ventured to say as he took the sloping scrubbing brush out of the bucket of hot soapy water and splashed it onto the floor.

"You're doing it twice over!" she barked like a Nazi at a concentration camp.

"No, not that, I have a question."

Ia brought the magazine down and glaring at him, snapped, "What?"

"Have you two set a date yet?" he asked, not aware that Cam didn't know he knew about the wedding.

Ia's eyes grew huge and she quickly snapped her head to Cam, then to Sanji, then back to Cam, and then she said nothing but kept her gaze shifting around the room near the floor.

Cam came up from his hands and knees to just his knees and looked at the two of them. Sanji kneeling there, and Ia looking like she just shot someone.

"Ia. Why does he know about the wedding?" Cam asked slowly. Scarily.

"Um... well..." she still wouldn't meet his gaze, even as he stood up and walked over to where she was sitting. Even though she was on the counter, he was eye level with her there. When they were eye level it meant something bad.

"Well, Ia?" he asked, waiting for his answer.

"You... you remember when I asked you when we should tell people about the wedding, right?"

"Yeah, you woke me up that morning early."

"Well, you remember how I told you he was in my room?"

"Yes."

"He found out then."

"You lied to me! You told me you didn't tell anybody!" Cam yelled.

"I didn't tell anybody!" she yelled back, gaining her own rock to stand on in this argument. He was accusing her of something she didn't do. "I didn't lie to you! Sanji found out all on his own, I didn't tell him anything!" she shouted.

Now Sanji was seeing his perfect couple fight. He didn't think he ever saw them fight before, well, not like this.

"I don't believe you." he said loudly.

Ia glared him down, staying up on the counter instead of getting down onto the floor because on the floor she would loose some of her intimidation by being shorter than him. Here, she was, sitting up straight, a half inch taller.

"Why?" she said with so much venom and anger in her voice it was surprising it wasn't a hiss or growl.

"How would he have noticed if he hasn't notice for six months?"

"I don't know?" Ia shouted as if Sanji wasn't in the room. But he could tell who was defending him. "Maybe the light caught it, or maybe he wasn't looking directly at me, or maybe it was just some weird coincidence? How the hell should I know?"

"Let's ask him! Sanji!" Cam yelled, both angry people turning to face Sanji with their hateful eyes of death. "Why did you notice Ia's ring?"

"I think the question is how did he?" Ia spat at her fiancé, turning from Sanji to Cam, then back to Sanji. Cam kept his eyes on Sanji.

"Uh..." Sanji started, trying to remember that night, but remembered something else, "I'm not the first person to know!"

Ia's face softened to confusion, so did Cam's.

"Yeah! I wasn't the first to see the ring. Shanks was!" Sanji said, right as Shanks stepped into the kitchen with Ia's grandmother's old walker.

"What? I heard my name? What's going on?" Shanks yelled as he situated himself on one of the kitchen table chairs.

"Shanks, did you notice I had a ring on?" Ia asked the old man who wasn't really that old, just prematurely aged.

"Yes."

"When?" Cam asked.

Shanks thought about that and said, "Oh, when I first met the girl! Back in January when she and the freak over there came back from wherever they were."

Ia looked mildly surprised at this and said, "Funny! The oldest person here who pretty much senile is the first to notice. Have you told anyone?" Ia asked as Sanji yelled, "Hey! I'm no freak!"

"I tried to tell Ian but he brushed it off as if I was making stuff up again."

Ia smirked and said, "Awesome!"

"Sanji! You haven't answer the question yet!" Cam snapped back at Sanji, who replied.

"It was dark in the room and it gave off a shine so I looked? What?" Sanji said, and the two understood. Shiny stuff gets people. That's how Ia found a five dollar bill in Teal Lake. She thought it was a shiny green rock under the water so she picked it up. Turns out it was money.

"Oh."

"So, when are you planning it for?" Sanji asked again as Ia glared at Cam in her own way of telling him to get back to cleaning the floor. Sanji was back down there, too.

"We haven't decided yet," Ia said and then said, "I was thinking of sometime in the summer."

"We haven't even told anybody yet! How could we have it in the summer?" the fiancé yelled over the bucket of soapy water.

"I was thinking _next_ summer." the fiancee said in a sort of hiss to him.

The fiancé went back to cleaning as the fiancee went back to reading her bridal magazine.

Shanks watched them in silence and, with a happy look on his face, said, "I know when you two can have your fancy wedding!"

Ia looked up simultaneously with Cam as he asked, "When?"

"At the same time Ian and the sky are having their wedding! June 2nd!"

* * *

Whua-oh!

6-11-08! Oh my GOSH it's finally finished! This chapter, I mean.

READ-ETH and REVIEW-ETH!!

I command you.

(Waves hand over your face) "You will send a review. There's no need to flame. You will send a good review on how well I did!"

_Thanks Jedi Mind Tricks! :D_

SONGTIME

Keen On Boys- The Radio Dept.  
Dinner is Served- POTC Dead Man's Chest  
Learn To Do It- Anastasia


	25. Kisses, Arrivals, and Silence

I'm depressed!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ia and Cam stared in disbelief at Shanks and Ia said, "W-wait... _this _June 2nd?"

"Yes." Shanks said happily.

"We can't get married on June 2nd!" Cam yelled.

"And why not?" Shanks asked, staring down Cam.

"Because we can't plan a wedding in less than three months! Plus, nobody knows about this yet!" Ia tried to explain.

"Why?" Shanks asked, beating Ia down in this discussion.

"I... Yes! Why, Cam?" she pushed towards her fiancé.

"It was your idea!" he pushed back to her.

"No, it wasn't, it was yours." she said, shoving the conversation back.

"You said to keep it a secret?"

"But you asked me." she said, winning the argument and smirking in doing so.

"That doesn't count!"

"Yes it does! It wouldn't be a secret if you hadn't asked me!"

"If I hadn't asked you, there would be no secret!"

"Yeah, exactly! So, therefore, your fault!" Ia pointed, getting down from the counter and walking up to her now standing fiancé.

"It is not my fault! I never would have kept it a secret! I'm surprised you did for so long."

"What do you mean by that?" Ia asked, her eyes narrowing. She was trying to not let him know she was very confused by that statement.

"You're a loud mouth." he said plainly.

Ia's mouth dropped in shock, her face was angry, and a small gasp escaped when it fell open.

"I am not!" she yelled, reproachfully.

"You are, Ia." Sanji said, Shanks nodding in agreement.

She glared at them all and then turned to Cam with a look on her face that said 'well, then.'

"Well, then!" she said and then closed her mouth and then made a motion as if she were locking her lips with an invisible key and then throwing the key away.

"What are you doing?" Cam asked but Ia didn't reply, but left the room quickly.

"Ia? Where are you going?" Cam yelled after her and then followed her out of the room.

There was silence for a minute or two, then Sanji asked, "So... am I done with cleaning the floor?"

A-Q-U-A

The next day dawned quickly and everybody was up about two hours later. So, when the bells were ringing 10:00, everybody was about the house, eating their breakfast and talking. Everybody but Ia, was talking, at least.

"Ia, do you want the sausage?"

Ia nodded quickly and when the plate came her way, half of the two dozen sausages were then on her plate.

"Hungry?"Nami asked as she put the plate back on the table.

Ia shrugged.

Nami exchanged an odd glace with Zac and he turned to Ia and said, "Ia?"

She looked up at him and met his gaze.

"What time is it?" Zac asked, wondering if she was talking at all.

Ia shrugged.

"What's Sanji doing?"

Ia shrugged again.

"I'm going to take some of your sausage." Zac, who was sitting next to her at the dining table.

Ia grabbed her fork quickly and held it in a menacing way towards Zac's outstretched hand. Her glare got him to take it back.

Over on the other side of the table, Shanks was sitting in-between Izzy and Ian and he was talking, loudly, about Ian's upcoming wedding to Skie, who was sitting on the other side of Ian. Sanji was on the other side of Izzy. The table setting went like this in clockwise with Shanks at the end of the table and Nami being at the other end. It went Shanks, Izzy, Sanji, Chey, Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, Nami, Zac, Ia, Cam, Chopper, Skie, Ian, and then back to Shanks.

"So, the sky wants Ia, that sword girl, the map girl, and her sister in the wedding?" Shanks asked Ian.

"It's Skie, and yes."

"They have names, you know. It's Ia, Chey, Nami and Amber." Skie injected loudly as she cut her pancakes. She quickly glanced up and saw Izzy cutting her own pancakes. Jealousy wrapped aroud her as she sat beside Sanji.

"I'm not good with names." Shanks complained as he took a swig of grape juice. He still thought it was wine.

"You know Ia's name?" Skie said.

"Yes, but that's because Ian liked her before he met you. He told me."

Skie looked over at Ian and asked quietly, "You liked Ia?"

"Liked! I liked Ia! Back before I met you! I just met her and all of a sudden I liked her! Just for that one day, though, Skie! Cam was on the ship at the time when I met her!"

"Really, Ia?" Skie asked down table and Ia looked up and nodded, smiling while she held her fork threateningly towards Zac.

"But why was that so important?" Skie asked Shanks, who had a whole waffle in his mouth and had to chew and swallow it before he could respond to Skie's question.

"Because he and Ia were makin out the very same day." Izzy said like a snob across the table at Skie before Shanks could swallow everything. When he did, he said, "That's right!"

Skie turned towards Ian with a look of hurt on her face and he didn't look back at her. When he didn't, she got up quickly and fast walked to the door in the living room and out to the girls' apartment.

Ia and Chey exchanged quick glances and followed suit.

Ian looked up, finally, to find Cam glaring daggers at him. And he would not stop till Ian left the room a couple minutes later.

T-H-E-K-I-L-L-E-R-S

"He kissed her before he met you!" Chey said, wondering why Skie got completely upset. Even Ia didn't know. All Skie kept saying in her head was _'He kissed her... he kissed her... he kissed her while Cam was there!'_

Ia said nothing, for she was still on her little thing where she would not talk.

"I know... but because he kissed Ia while Cam was there! On the ship! How could he do something like that?" Skie said as she was sitting on her bed with her knees drawn tightly up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them.

Ia nodded slowly.

"What are you going to do?" Chey asked, sitting down beside Skie and putting her arm around Skie's shoulders. Ia felt that she shouldn't approach Skie at that moment. Skie just might snap and blame Ia for all of this and then kill her. She didn't even know why she followed Skie?

Ia sent a mental note to Chey, who then asked Skie, "Ia wants to know if you're mad at her?"

Skie looked up at Ia, who was in the far back corner away from Skie. She was trying to be as far away without being out of the room, but for safety, she was right next to the door.

"No, I'm not mad at you." Skie said slowly, but didn't look at Ia, but glared at the spot of wall underneath the window beside Chey's bed.

Ia nodded once and left the room quickly.

M-Y-C-H-E-M-I-C-A-L-R-O-M-A-N-C-E

Now that the entire crew knew about the kiss that happened so very long ago, Ian couldn't bare to show his face. Instead, he stayed up in his and Sanji's bedroom in the back apartment.

It was maybe an hour later when Sanji walked into the room.

"Hello, Ian." he said. No emotion in his voice at all.

"Hey, Sanji." Ian said, sitting up from where he was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, his hands folded behind his head.

"Why'd you do it?" Sanji asked intently.

"It was a brief moment of weakness. I was really liking her and that was just something I wanted to do."

"You did know she had a boyfriend, right?" Sanji asked, nodding.

"Yes." Ian said forcefully. He wasn't proud of what he did... but then he remembered that Izzy was just as bad. She had made out with Cam, hadn't she?

"Good."

"Why are you asking?"

"I'm trying to think of ways to get Izzy to break up with me." Sanji said, not trying to hide that from Izzy's brother.

"Why?"

"I love her, but I don't think she loves me. So, I can't break up with her, she's gonna have to break up with me! But how to do that so I don't get killed?" Sanji said and Ian knew that he couldn't really kiss any girl in this place. Ia had Cam (and Cam would literally punch Sanji into tomorrow, he was that fast), Skie had Ian (and Ian knew of the plan and would throw Sanji off the roof), Chey had Zoro (Zoro didn't even need his swords to kill Sanji), and Nami didn't need a guy, she'd just make sure he never got to have children of his own. Well, all the girls would do that, but the guys would just make it ten times worse.

"Why don't you just ask Ia? She knows how to ruin relationships." Ian said, mainly wanting Sanji to get the hell out of their room so he could reflect on how much of a jackass he was.

"Alright. She did start this whole thing anyway." Sanji said and got up and left the room.

C-H-E-A-P-T-R-I-C-K

Sanji found Ia sitting against Skie and Chey's bedroom door on the floor. She had her knees up a bit and her wrists were resting on them and her hands were dangling in front of her. She looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Hey, Ia?" Sanji asked, walking up.

Ia looked up, saying nothing.

"Could you help me in ruining my relationship?"

She shook her head no, and lowerd her gaze to back to in front of her at the wall.

That threw Sanji through the loop.

"What? Why? You love ruining relationships!"

Ia gave him a questionable look and he continued to say, "Well, mine."

She again shook her head.

"But why? You love to torture Izzy! This is going to torture Izzy!"

Ia stood up and grabbed the open collar of Sanji's sport coat and dragged him into her bedroom where she picked up her open notebook and wrote down, _**I don't wanna ruin any more relationships!**_

"But this is for good! This just isn't working out between us and I need her to break up with me!"

Ia was busy writing again, _**Why don't you just break up with her, you idiot?**_

"Because I don't want to. I like her, but she doen't feel the same."

_**You said love to Ian, and she does, moron.**_

"What? Stop insulting me! She does?"

Ia nodded.

"Then why is it so rough?"

Her pencil was just flying when she wrote this response, _**Cuz I'm here. Once we're completely separated, she'll go back to being her normal self. She hates my guts and every time she sees you and me together, she wants me to suddenly combust... do you get it?**_

Sanji shook his head, "What?'

Ia glared as her pencil went flying, **_She's jealous!_**

Sanji blinked and said, "I get it." slowly.

_**You're and idiot.**_

Sanji gave her a look of annoyance and left the room.

G-U-N-S-N-R-O-S-E-S

**ZAC'S POV**

Everybody was going insane. I wasn't, but I'm awesome. I don't go insane.

Skie was sulking her bedroom with Chey's shoulder to cry on, Ian was in his own bedroom, sulking with nobody's shoulder to cry on, Ia wasn't talking and was going around thinking she was the relationship destroyer (Sanji told me), and the rest were trying to get everybody out of this slump.

It was now the first of April (April Fool's Day) and the snow was still flying around outside. Luffy and Usopp were staring out the window, whining about when the snow would leave. Ia was sitting in the big arm chair which use to be her grandfather's, since we were in the downstairs part of the house. She stared at Luffy and Usopp and said nothing, which still wasn't a change. She had only spoken two words since her vow of silence that week and a half ago. She had said, "Shut up!" and that was towards Zoro three days ago when he kept annoying her, again.

I was sitting in the other arm chair, which use to be Ia's grandmother's, when we heard a really loud knocking on the outside door.

"Did somebody just come to the door, Luffy?" I asked.

Luffy turned his head towards me and said, "Yes. A girl with dark hair."

I looked at Ia, who shrugged, and then went to open the door.

When I opened the big brown door leading to the enclosed porch, I saw standing there a girl with dark brown, maybe black shoulder length hair framing a pretty face.

She was wearing a lime green winter jacket with jeans and black winter boots. Beside her on the floor were two giant suitcases. One black, the other red. On her black hair was a frilly dark purple winter hat that had flaps to covere her ears and tassels hanging down past her chest.

"KELLY!" someone screamed from the top of the stairs and then I saw Skie bounding down them two at a time till she reached the bottom and hugged the girl standing there.

"ACK! HUGS!" Kelly yelled and Skie let go, remembering that Kelly wasn't so hot on hugs.

"Sorry!" Skie said, laughing.

"This can't go on, KELLY!" Ia shouted, coming into the front shed and hugging Kelly.

"WHY IS EVERYBODY SO INTENT ON GIVING ME HUGS?" Kelly yelled as Ia held on.

"Hugs, not Drugs!" Skie sang.

"What can't go on?" Kelly asked once Ia finally let go.

"Are you finally talking again?" I asked, looking down at Ia. See, I was taller than her. And I _always _made her know that!

"Yeah. But don't tell Cam." Ia said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Why not?" Kelly asked, pulling her suitcases into the shed and Skie closed the door behind her.

"Cuz he called me a loud mouth last week and I'm showing him that I'm not one." Ia said, smirking in her own evil little way.

"Isn't there a better way to do this?" I asked, feeling that she was being immature again.

"No." she snapped and lifted Kelly's suitcases up the stairs and into their apartment without moving an inch. Just another way for her to be lazy, I guess.

"Whoa! So it is true!" Kelly said, taking off her jacket and placing it on the over flowing hat stand that had everybody's jacket on there. All fourteen people.

"That I can move things with my mind? Of course." Ia said and led Kelly into the downstairs part. I saw that Kelly was wearing a red tank top and I wondered how she wasn't freezing?

"Kelly, arn't you cold?" I asked her as Ia showed her the downstairs. Luckily, the crew was up in the back apartment. Sanji was cooking lunch up there.

When they passed by my bedroom, Cam came out and asked, "Who's she?"

Ia, of course, said nothing but just looked at him.

"This is Kelly!" Skie said happily, "Kelly, Cam. Cam, Kelly."

"So this is Cam?" Kelly asked, turning to Ia who nodded, her face expressionless.

"When are you going to talk again?" Cam asked, sounding like a whine, Ia who shrugged and motioned to Kelly to continue following her.

N-O-V-A-C-A-N-C-Y

I never knew Kelly could scream so loudly and high pitch till she met the crew. Zoro stared, Nami covered her ears, Luffy and Usopp screamed back, Chopper ran and hid behind the couch arm, and Sanji's eye widened, which was weird.

"OH MY GOD! THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE REALLY HERE!" Kelly screamed and ran over to stare at Luffy.

"Excited much?" Ia asked.

"You talked!" Cam yelled and Ia looked up in surprise and yelled, "Frick!" and stormed out of the room and out of the apartment. Cam following.

"Weird..." Kelly said and then turned to Luffy and asked, with these huge eyes, "CAN YOU REALLY STRETCH!"

"Yeah!" Luffy said and stretched his arm into the kitchen and grabbed a can of Root Beer, which Skie stole from him when his arm was slinging back. "HEY!" Luffy shouted and jumped towards Skie to get his pop back, but he crashed into the wall face first and Kelly laughed.

I managed to slip out of the room while Luffy was lunging back at Skie for his pop and I left the apartment.

The wind was blowing pretty hard as I walked the twenty feet to the back door to the main house.

It was when I walked into the living room to watch some TV or maybe play some Oblivion when I hear shouting in the very quiet house.

I sighed and crept up the stairs to listen to what they were shouting about. I was curious and it might help to know what's going on for when later they both come to me separately to complain. Just the norm, I guess.

When I got up to the top of the stairs, I didn't hear anything anymore. Did Ia kill him, I wondered.

"Ia? Cam?" I asked, knocking on the door and when I heard nothing, I opened it slowly, hearing the creak, and saw nobody.

I checked all over the apartment and still didn't see anybody.

"Where are you guys?" I called out, thinking that they were hiding and playing a prank on me. It sounded much like what Ia would do to annoy people. Mainly me.

When I really couldn't find anybody, I went back to the back apartment and yelled, "IA AND CAM ARE GONE!"

Everybody looked up from their laughter and yelling and then Chey asked, "What?"

"Yeah! They were yelling and I went up to check on them and they were just gone!"

Everybody but a few looked confused. The ones that didn't look confused were Izzy and Shanks. Izzy looked happy and Shanks just looked like he understood what was happening.

"Where'd they go?" Kelly asked cautiously as she stood next to Luffy, who was holding Skie's arm in a tight grip to get the can of Root Beer. I didn't even know why he wanted it so badly?

"I don't know?" I said and then Shanks spoke up and said, "They're back home!"

Everybody stared at him and then I noticed something, "Where's Usopp?" I asked.

Everybody looked around and then Luffy said, "I don't know? He said he was going to the bathroom..."

T-H-E-L-A-S-T-G-O-O-D-N-I-G-H-T

That night Kelly slept in Ia's messy messy room. That night, four more people disappeared, Luffy, Chey, Izzy, and Ian.

It was now down to the eight of us.

By lunch, it was down to six. Nami and Shanks were the next to go.

So it was me, Kelly, Sanji, Chopper, Skie, and Zoro.

But, of course, by supper, we were down to four. Chopper and Zoro were gone when Sanji put the supper on the table. It seemed unusually open at the table.

An hour later, Skie and Sanji were gone.

It was just me and Kelly.

"I wonder how they got there?" she wondered aloud around nine that night as we were watching TV in the downstairs living room. I was in the grandfather chair and she was on the couch- er- davenport.

"Got where?" I asked her as the Colbert Report finished up.

"To One Piece. The Grand Line! I wonder what it's like there?"

"It's very nice and warm most of the time." I said to answer her question, looking at the TV.

"You've been there too?"she yelled, sitting up straight in her seat and staring at me. She was a very curious person and liked to get up in your face, a LOT.

"Yeah... I was there for maybe a month?"

"Was it nice? What'd you do? Who'd you see? Was it fun?"

"It was nice. We didn't do much, really. The crew. We got to beat up this candy man and his candy army."

"CANDY ARMY!?" Kelly shrieked in this high pitch tone that probably a bunch of dogs all around Negaunee heard.

"Yeah. Chey found out that they were really made of candy so we could just eat them and that's how we won! Ia broke her ankle and her arm, though."

"Ooo... sound's painful. Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine." I brushed off. It wasn't much of a concern. Now...

"You seem so concerned!" Kelly said, chuckling a bit at me. She was sorta mean like Ia but very hyper like Skie... it was a double dose of horrible crap.

"What was that?" she asked suddenly, staring at the floor.

I looked down too, "What?"

"You didn't feel that? It felt like a tremor. Like a mini earthquake!"

Then I remembered back when Ia and Sanji went missing for that little bit in January that Izzy described an earthquake right before they went missing.

"Oh no..." I said and quickly grabbed onto the chair and then the earthquake came, shaking the entire house and us. I could hear Kelly screaming.

J-O-U-R-N-E-Y

It was dark when I felt that the earthquake had stopped.

"Kelly?"

"Zac? Are you there?" I heard her hiss in the darkness.

"Where are we?"

Then we both heard creaking floorboards and then a flood of light appeared at the other end of the room.

Down the little half stairs, half ladder came... somebody.

"Oh! Oh, hey!" Chey said when she saw us amongst the crates and boxes.

"Chey... are we on the Going Merry?"

"Yep! Come on, everybody else is in the kitchen. Half of them are arguing." she said, rolling her eyes as she helped us up and walked up and out of the cargo hold.

I looked at Kelly who shrugged and ran up, too.

I followed, slowly.

* * *

6-28-08...

Happy B-Day, Cam.

GAH! Chapter 25 DONE!

No SongTime today, sorry. I couldn't think of any song titles that would work, so I used Band Names!

Aqua  
The Killers  
My Chemical Romance  
Cheap Trick  
Guns N' Roses  
No Vacancy  
Journey


	26. Back

It took 21 chapters for all of them to FINALLY get back to One Piece World...

And not much happened in-between.

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Now we really have to get married." Zac heard Skie say when he and Kelly stepped into the kitchen after Chey, who instantly went back to sitting on Zoro's lap.

Skie and Ian were at the back of the room by the fridge and Sanji was at the stove, cooking something up that was sizzling loudly. Behind him was Izzy, who was leaning up against the wall with her arms crossed and a glare on her face.

At the table were Shanks and Chopper (talking about different medical uses for an elephant tusk), Luffy and Usopp (not talking, but drawing), and Nami, who was yelling across the room at Ia. They were yelling about something... flower colours or something like that, maybe? Cam was beside Ia, staring at the rack of grog that he and Ia were standing by.

"I would rather have RED roses, so then they match the bridesmaid's dresses!" Ia shouted.

"Why are they dressed in red in the first place?" Nami shouted back.

"This is MY wedding, Nami! Not yours!"

Zac turned his attention to Skie and Ian.

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"I still can't believe you, Ian."

"How many more times do I have to say I'm sorry! I kissed your best friend while her boyfriend was on the ship! I'm sorry! I would never do that to you, you know me!" he said, trying to get his arms around her. She shrugged him off.

"My drawing is better!" Luffy said, holding up a slightly wet drawing of a blob that was brown.

"Why is it wet?" Usopp asked, putting his crayon down and looking at Luffy's drawing.

"I was drawing a piece of meat and I got hungry."

"So you drooled on it?"

"It was making my mouth water! SANJI! ARE WE HAVING MEAT?" Luffy shouted across the room to Sanji, who replied, "LOBSTER!"

Luffy's face fell slightly and then he said, "Let's go outside!" to Usopp and they both ran out the door to the lower deck.

"You know I won't be good till she's gone." Izzy said to Sanji, who turned and said, "I know. I can wait."

Izzy smiled, genuinely, for the first time in a long time.

"A lot has been accomplished in the last day." Zac said and Kelly shrugged, not knowing exactly what was going on.

"Is this a dream?" she asked and Zac pinched her arm.

"OW! Ok... it's not." she said and walked over to where Ia was and they started a conversation. Nami got up to join them, too.

Zac went over to where Cam was, looking at the grog, beer, and wine.

"Thirsty?" Zac said plainly and Cam turned his head and said, "No."

D-R-I-N-K-U-P-M-E-H-E-A-R-T-I-E-S

They were sailing, and Ia and Sanji didn't know how. Being the last people on the ship, they saw that the sails were tattered and they were beached.

"How are we sailing?" Ia asked as she and Sanji stared up at the sails. It was maybe noon and Nami was at the helm, directing them towards the nearest island.

"I don't know... the sails don't even look like they were ever ripped?" Sanji said as Chopper came up behind them and started hopping up and down, trying to see what they were seeing.

Down on the lower deck, Luffy, Ian, Usopp, and Zoro were trying to get a game of kick ball together.

"IA!" Luffy called up and Ia looked down at the deck where Luffy was with the big red rubber ball.

"WHAT?" she yelled back, irate.

"Wanna play some kick ball?"

"Ooo! Yeah!" she said, loosing her irritatedness and turning it into hyperness, and ran down there, slipping off her flip flops in the process.

"But that makes it five! We need someone else." Usopp said, counting and Ia raised her hand and shook it as if she were in school and was waiting to be called on.

"Ia?" Usopp said, pointing to her, confused on why her hand was up.

"I got someone!" she said and pointed her thumb to the door to the cannon room where Cam was coming out.

"CAM! YOU'RE PLAYING KICKBALL!" Ia yelled at her fiancé, whom everybody knew now to be her fiancé. They had accidentally let it slip while they were fighting.

"Why? I don't wanna!" he yelled back, more whining then yelling.

"Too bad, you're playing." she said and he slumped over.

"Alright, who's captain?"

"ME!" Luffy and Usopp shouted and then walked to opposite sides of the lower deck.

"I... pick... IA!" Luffy said, having the first pick by, in his words, "Cuz I'm the real captain! That's why!"

"COME ON!" Usopp yelled in jealousy. He wanted Ia. "Fine... Zoro."

"Ian!"

"Cam."

"Alright. Home plate is- SANJI! GIVE ME YOUR SHOE!" Ia shouted and Sanji, who hadn't been paying attention, took off his shoe threw it at Ia, who caught it smartly. "Sanji's shoe. First base is the door. Second base is the railing," Ia said, going around in a diamond shape, touching the bases to indicate that they have to touch here, or they're not safe. "And thrid base is this door." Ia said, touching the door to the other cannon room lightly and going back to home base.

"Who's kicking first?"

"ME!" Luffy and Usopp shouted loudly.

"No no... we'll do it the old way." Ia said and motioned for them all to come in a circle and she ordered, "Put your foot in."

They obliged, and Ia then started with the old rhyme, "My mother and your mother were out hanging clothes. My mother punched your mother right in the nose. What colour was the blood?" and her finger landed on Luffy's foot.

"Blue- no! YELLOW!" he yelled happily and suddenly he was flying through the air towards the sea.

"BRING HIM BACK!" they all yelled at her and she quickly took him out of the water and back up on the deck.

"B-L-U-E spells blue with a dirty dirty dish rag on my mother's big fat stinking nose!" she continued as if nothing happened. Her finger landed on her own foot.

"Frick," she said, but continued till the last person was Zoro. Usopp's team was first up.

"How is the out field gonna work?" Usopp asked.

They all thought about it when Luffy said, "I can stretch and catch!"

"But what about when your team is up?" Zoro asked.

"Oh yeah... We'll just win, I guess!"

"No. We're trading players!" Usopp said, "Cam, Ia, switch."

Ia shrugged and she and Cam crossed paths and Ia took his place on Usopp's team on the port side of the ship and he took her place on the starboard side.

"Alright. Ia's catching for your team, Luffy's catching for ours." Ian said

"I think we need more players?" Ia said, right as Kelly and Zac came out of the kitchen and were heading for the stairs.

"KELLY! ONII-CHAN! YOU'RE PLAING KICK BALL!" Ia shouted at them and they both turned. Zac looked like he didn't want to, but Kelly dragged him down there by the scruff of his shirt.

"Ok... Luffy, you may pick!"

"KELLY!"

Kelly squealed and ran over to the starboard side.

"Zac." Usopp said and Zac walked over, unexcited.

"Alright. Usopp, we're up!" Ia said and they started the game.

Up on the top deck next to the kitchen, Sanji, Izzy, Chey, Nami, Skie, Shanks, and Chopper were watching the game going on.

Kelly was pitcher, Cam was on third base, Ian on first, Luffy was back by third base, ready to catch anything.

Kelly pitched the big red rubber ball towards Usopp, who freaked out a bit and lightly kicked a grounder.

"RUN!" his team shouted as the ball, due to the rocking of the ship, rolled back and forth along the deck as Usopp made it past first and safely to second.

Up next was Zoro.

Kelly pitched and Zoro kicked it hard, making it fly past the mast and out to sea.

Luffy, laughing, stretched his arms out, but missed as the ball splashed into the water.

Luffy snagged it as Usopp hit home and Zoro rounded second.

On the back swing, Luffy managed to tag Zoro right before he hit home.

"OUT!" Kelly yelled and grabbed the ball from Luffy's swinging back hand.

Next was Zac.

Another grounder, it hit the mast and bounced around. Cam managed to pick it up and lob it at Zac right before he hit first.

"OUT!" Kelly's voice rang loudly.

Ia, glaring at her team and their two outs, stepped up to plate.

Kelly smirked and threw a fast one. Ia, still kicked it hard and sent it flying out to sea, where Luffy caught it on the tips of his fingers.

"WHATEVER!" Ia shouted as she walked to Luffy's spot and Luffy's team walked up to home plate.

Luffy decided he was up first.

Zac was pitching while Usopp was on third and Zoro was on first.

Zac rolled the ball to Luffy and Luffy kicked that thing hard. But, being Luffy, the ball hit the mast and burst.

While he was running around the bases, Zac was examining the ball, Usopp and Zoro were trying to get Luffy to stop, and Ia was screaming that that didn't mean a home run!

"They're really into this game, huh." Kelly asked Cam, since she was standing behind him.

"Oh yeah. They're all competitive." he said as he watched his team captain freeze in mid air and Ia walk over to him and yell, "DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER KICKBALL?"

"Yep!" he said and then ran down to the guys' cabin and brought up another identical ball.

"Ok!" Luffy said as he gave Zac the new ball. "It's one to one!"

"THAT DIDN'T COUNT AS A HOME RUN!" Ia screamed.

"Ia, it's always been a rule that if the ball breaks when you kick it, it's a home run." Zoro said.

"You've been playing before this?" Ia asked, thinking they were all stupid.

"Yeah!"

Ia, glaring, watched as Ian was next up to kick.

Zac, this time, rolled a slower one and Ian nearly tripped and kicked a grounder, heading for Usopp.

"USOPP, GET IT!" Ia screamed from the outfield and Usopp fell over.

Then, the ball suddenly picked itself up from the deck and threw itself at Ian, who saw and dived back onto second right as the ball bounced off his back.

"SAFE!" Luffy and his entire team yelled.

Ia glared at them and then the ball zoomed back to Zac's hands and he looked as saw that Cam was up.

"CAN I SAY SOMETHING!" Zoro shouted loudly right as Zac was about to throw the ball.

"What?"

"Unless you are in the outfield, you are not allowed to use your Devil Fruit Power!"

Ia and Luffy exchanged looks and said, "Ok!"

"Hey!" Cam yelled at Zoro and Zoro shrugged and then looked at Zac, who pitched the ball at Cam.

Cam, disregarding the new rule, kicked that thing fast, sending it flying so far that after a while they couldn't see it. But right as he kicked it, Ia was off after the ball.

Everybody on the crew ran to the starboard side to see if Ia had cought the ball. But when they saw the big splash way off in the distance, they were frozen to see if she would come back up.

"Out." they heard behind them and everybody turned to see Ia standing there, completely dry, holding the big red rubber ball.

Ian then sprinted to third and got there before Ia could throw the ball.

"Two outs!" Ia said, without looking at Ian.

"WHAT!?" he yelled.

"You're suppose to stay on base if he got out!"

"Is that three, then?"

"No. One more." Ia said and turned to Kelly, who was still standing there

Everybody got back to where they were suppose to be and Zac then pitched the ball to Kelly, who kicked a pretty good grounder.

It went towards Zoro, who was about to grab it and lob it at her, but the boat shifted and it rolled back towards her. She had to jump over it as she ran to avoid it. It hit the railing as she rounded first and Zoro ran to get the ball as it started rolling again towards Kelly.

Kelly rounded second as Zoro grabbed the ball and threw it at Usopp, who ducked and the ball suddenly froze and threw itself at Kelly, who it hit right before she could touch the door.

"OUT!" Ia screamed.

"YOU CAN'T USE YOUR POWER!" Ian yelled from home base.

"I'm in the outfield, so I can!" she sneered back at him as her team went to home plate.

This went on for another hour till the score was tied, again, at 16 to 16 and it was Zac's turn up. Ia was second base, Zoro was on first, and Usopp was on third.

"COME ON, ONII-CHAN! HIT US HOME!" Ia shouted from second.

Kelly slowly threw the ball at Zac, who kicked a high one way towards the right of the mast, and Luffy was on the left of the mast.

Everybody who was up watching the game had to duck so they wouldn't get hit by the ball as it flew, knocking a tangerine or two out of Nami's trees.

Zac ran, and so did everybody else on his team.

Usopp hit home as the ball hit the water.

Luffy stretched out his arms and got the ball as Ia hit home in a very unnecessary slide.

Luffy's back swing managed to tag Zoro as he rounded third.

"OUT!" Kelly yelled.

"Damn!" Zoro yelled.

"It doesn't matter, our team won anyway!" Ia shouted as she jumped up and down with the rest of her team, minus Zoro and Zac, because they neither jumped up nor down.

"IT'S NOT OVER!" Luffy yelled when Nami came down and said, "Yes, it is, Luffy. We're at the island."

"SWEET!" Luffy yelled and he ran up to his lookout spot on the head and looked out at the island. His team anime shocked at him with big eyes and floor length jaws.

"Guys, you better change, it's suppose to be 108 there."

"108?" Usopp asked as the girls went down to Nami's room.

"Degrees, Usopp." Nami said, following the girls.

T-N-T

So, when they docked the ship, everybody was ready for the hell-like heat.

Usopp and Chopper decided to stay back with the Going Merry. Usopp because it was his turn (being gone for over six months and they still remembered who's turn it was to watch the ship) and Chopper because the heat didn't agree with him.

Nami stepped onto the dock wearing a bikini top and short shorts with strapy healed sandals and big sunglasses. She had her purse with her and she looked like she was either going to shop or lay out on the beach for a while. Sanji, behind her, was wearing a white button up shirt with short sleeves and, of course, black pants and his black shoes. He had sunglasses on and a cigarette lit and beside him was Izzy, wearing her fiery red hair up in a bun with a red tank top to match. She had a white flowing skirt on with white flip flops and her purse on her shoulder. She, too, had big dark sunglasses.

Zoro and Chey came off next, Zoro in his normal clothes and Chey in a black mini skirt with a white tank top. Her hair was up in cute little pigtails and her light eyes were, too, hidden behind sunglasses. But she, and Skie and Ia, had the smarts to put on sun screen. Speaking of Skie, she and Ian were already heading down the street of the town. Ian in a light coloured t-shirt and cutoff jean shorts and brown flip flops and Skie in jean shorts and a dark blue tank top. Her hair down, again, and she didn't have on sunglasses.

Shanks was having trouble getting to the dock and decided to stay back with Usopp and Chopper. He didn't change out of his clothes. A pale light coloured button up, a tattered old square shaped straw hat, and tan pants with no shoes.

Zac was prone to not being affected by the degrees outside, so he went into town wearing his normal black clothes. Kelly beside him wearing a dark green tank top and black shorts that reached her knees. She had flip flops on while he had black shoes.

Luffy hopped off the ship wearing his normal red tank top and blue shorts and flip flops. He bounded down the street towards the butchers shops, hoping he could steal some meat since he was hungry.

Ia and Cam were the last to get off, since Ia found it to be _just _a bit humid outside and her hair suddenly exploded.

So, her hair now in a pinned up pony tail off her back, she had on a yellow cami and tan shorts with her black flip flops while Cam was in a light blue t-shirt and khaki shorts with flip flops.

They all agreed to meet back at the ship in an hour so they could find a place to have lunch (much to the disapproval of Sanji) so for an hour, they were all out on their own.

"This place is really REALLY hot!" Skie said, fanning her face with her hand.

"Why did you leave your hair down then?" Ian asked as he led her down the street. She didn't know where they were going. Ian knew this island and knew where this certain shop was that they really needed to go into was.

"I don't put my hair up!" she said, crossing her arms and then quickly separating them again. The heat was making her, and everybody else, sweaty.

"Oh, it's up here. Close your eyes!" he said, continuing the illusion that this was a big surprise.

Skie smiled slyly and closed them. Ian then took her hands and led her into the shop that had a swinging sign above the door that had a picture of a big white dress on it.

He quickly shut the door and then led Skie through the cool shop to the back and then spun her around and said, "Open them!" in her ear.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see a massive candy store, but all she saw were fancy big white dresses and other less fancy coloured dresses.

"A... bridal shop?" she asked, her face falling.

"Yeah!" Ian said and Skie then bolted to the door. Good thing she wasn't as good a runner as she was a jumper, so Ian caught up with her and grabbed her around the middle and hoised her up. Skie, kicking and screaming, was brought to the back of the store, where a clerk came out at the noise.

"Usually it's the men that do the screaming around here!" she said, smiling kindly at Skie's disgruntled face. The clerk was a middle aged woman with grey hair in a bun on the back of her head. She was a chubby woman, stout, even shorter than Skie! She was wearing a blue dress with a white pinafore and her shoes were a strange sparkly red heal. She had tape measures slung over her neck like a scarf and she had several thimbles on various fingers. Her eyes were a pale blue.

"Hello, Alice, I'm here to get my fiancee her dress." Ian said.

"OH IAN! You're getting married!" Alice said, pinching Ian's cheek and kissing the other.

She came out from behind the counter and went up to Skie, who was slouching as she stood.

"Please, deary, stand up straight. I need your measurements." Alice said, looking at Skie.

Skie did nothing but glared and slouch as much as possible..

"Deary, stand up straight." Alice said in a stern voice.

And when she said that, Skie, by some force, stood up so straight and tall so quickly that she felt her back crack right up the spine.

"Thank you. Ian, the tuxes are next door, you can go look while I help your fiancee here!" Alice said and Ian smiled and looked at Skie as if saying, 'be good,' and went through a door to Skie's right and to the next room to the tuxes.

"How did you get me to stand up straight?" Skie asked once Alice was done taking Skie's measurements and went to write them down.

"I have a special power!" she said, winking, and Skie understood.

"There's a Devil Fruit that can make people obey you?" Skie asked as Alice said, "Come with me." and Skie followed.

"Looks like it! Ate it when I was maybe your age? Found out it was more misery then good." she said and stopped in front of a display of three dresses. One sleeveless with a big puffy skirt part, one with long lacy sleeves and less puffy skirt part, and one with thick straps with a straight flowing skirt part. "Well, deary, these are all in your size. I have others, but they would have to be tailored a bit. I thought if one of these you liked, I wouldn't have to charge you extra for the tailoring."

Skie looked at them and said, "I won't be wearing a dress." very plainly and quickly.

Alice sighed and said, "Wait here."

Good thing she could control people, otherwise Skie would have booked it out of there.

Alice came back with Ian a few minutes later and Ian told Alice, "Skie has to wear a dress."

"But why? I hate dresses!"

"I know. But otherwise this way Ia and Chey and Nami won't kill you. Please, Skie?"

Skie glared and Alice said, "Skie, you will wear a dress to your wedding."

Skie nodded and went back to looking at the dresses.

C-A-N-T-T-E-L-L-M-E-N-O-T-H-I-N-G

"Oh... my... GOD!" Ia shrieked as she looked at the various rings that were in the glass case.

"Looking for a wedding ring?" the store clerk asked, bending down and looking at Ia's excited face though the glass. She nodded and stood up.

"Gold or silver?" the clerk asked.

"Gold." Cam said at the same time Ia said, "Silver."

They looked at each other and the clerk said, "Young couple! I'll leave you be for a couple minutes!" he said and went to the other side of the cold store. It felt good in there.

"Our rings have to match, you know." Cam said.

"Why do you want gold?" Ia asked, one of her hands on the top of the glass case.

"Why do you want silver?"

"Silver goes with everything! I've always liked silver and..." then she said something in a mutter under her breath.

"What was that?"

"You only want gold cuz it's the same colour as your trumpet." she protested.

"Trumpets are brass!"

"And brass doesn't look like gold in any way at all, huh?" Ia said, pressing her point very well. "Plus, flutes are silver!"

"That's why you want silver?"

"No. My ring already IS silver. I can't have a silver engagement ring and a gold wedding ring! Gold and silver don't match all that well!" Ia said almost a little controlling.

"We don't have to get our rings today! Let's wait a bit more." Cam said, hoping to get out of this store and go to a completely different one.

Ia glared and then said, "Fine. Ian told me of a great dress and tux shop around here anyway."

"No, we're not looking at dresses yet."

"Why not?" Ia whined as they left the store back into the heat.

I-F-I-O-N-L-Y-H-A-D-T-H-E-N-E-R-V-E

Everybody met back up an hour later back at the ship and they left Sanji and Izzy behind when they decided where to go for lunch.

Eventually, they decided on this restaurant up on the cliff called The Overlook.

See, on this island, they had the town on the flat land behind the beach, but behind that, it had this massive cliff that had buildings built right into them! Some were businesses, some were restaurants and some were people's homes! It was the ritzy side of town.

"Is it expensive?" Nami asked as they walked towards the cliff.

Nobody said anything.

Once they got there, they managed to get a good, huge, table out on the wooden balcony extending from the carved out restaurant. There was a huge awning over the balcony and there was a MAGNIFICENT view of the Grand Line from it.

Their food was brought by three waiters and two waitresses.

"Luffy, is that your order?" Nami yelled.

But Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro were already halfway in it... whatever it was. A lot of seafood and some birds and maybe half a cow.

The rest of their meals were brought in much smaller looking portions than Luffy's. While eating their food, Shanks asked Ian, "So, is it going to be in a couple days or next week?"

Ian's eyes were wide and he said, "No... dad, it's only April! We're getting married in June! We've got another two months!"

"Oh... but we're here now. And you said that if we got back to the ship before the wedding date, then you'll have a big wedding on the ship!"

Skie glared at Ian, her knife in her hand since she had been cutting her meat, but it seemed to be in a more slashing Ian to bits pose now.

"I ment... on the wedding date! Not right when we get back!" Ian said hurriedly, trying to get it all right, "Besides, I don't have a tux and Skie doesn't even have a dress yet!"

"Well, why?"

"Yes, why?" Ia put in. She just wanted her bridesmaid dress... but she was getting her own wedding gown soon... so what was the point?

"Shut up! We just got here, sheesh!" Skie said as she ate her fish.

"Well! You wont be talking to me like that when you're my daughter-in-law, no no..." then Shanks went on to muttering to himself as he ate his fish with wings. Nami and Zoro beside him shuffled their chair away from him, scared looks in their eyes.

W-H-E-R-E-I-S-M-Y-M-I-N-D

They were all walking home after that, enjoying the bright sun after the months of white snow and grey clouds. They didn't even mind the heat all that much. It was a dry heat, despite the fact that they were on an island. But they did grow happier when a tree provided shade on the road while they walked.

As they were walking, a large group of rough, huge looking pirates came running down the road on the other side. It seemed that this island welcomed pirates. Well, anyway, the one on the outside edge of this group was holding a large chest. It was balanced on his hip with his arm holding it up. As they ran, the man was pushed out of the group and was heading straight towards Ia, who managed to pull herself out of his way before he barreled over her.

"Phew!" she said and turned and ran straight into a wooden post keeping a roof over the sidewalk up. She staggered and fell to the ground.

"Ia? Ia!"

Everybody crowded around her as she laid there, unconscious.

"Ah man! She's out cold!" Luffy complained as Zoro picked her up and held her in his arms wedding style, except that Ia was hanging limp. Her arms were hanging lifelessly down and her head was bent over his arm and her mouth was slightly agape.

"Nice. We've been here two hours and Ia's already out cold." Nami said as she walked beside Zoro as they walked back to the ship, hoping that Chopper could possibly wake her up.

When they got there, Chopper instantly took one look at Ia and started spazzing out. "Oh my gosh! WE NEED A DOCTOR! HELP HELP! MURDER! HELP!"

"CHOPPER! You're a doctor!" Usopp said and Chopper calmed down.

"Oh, right. Bring her in the infirmary."

* * *

I love my Holy Grail mention there! Isn't it lovely?

6-30-08

Drink Up Me Hearties- POTC At World's End  
TNT- AC/DC  
Can't Tell Me Nothing- Kanye West  
If I Only Had the Nerve- The Wizard of Oz  
Where is my Mind?- The Pixies


	27. The New Maid

Here we go again...

Ok. Go.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Zoro was nice and gently placed her on the table/bed. She was still out cold and Chopper looked at her head through her ears and eyes and said, "She's just unconscious, we'll just have to wait for her to wake up. Otherwise, she's fine." Chopper said, hopping down from the little stool and walking out of the room. Right as he turned out of the room, Ia opened her eyes.

"Ia! You're up! Are you ok?" Cam asked as he, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Skie, and Ian stood over her. She looked terrified.

"What... what's going on? Who are you people? Why are you staring at me?" she asked, looking even more terrified then before.

"Ia? Are you ok?"

"Who's Ia? Who am I? Why am I here?"

"Ah crap, she's got amnesia." Zoro said, stepping back from the table and placing his hand in his face, but then brought it up again, looking happier then before.

"SHE'S GOT AMNESIA!" Cam yelled, frightening Ia even more then before. She looked like she was about to cry. Sanji, being Sanji, held her close and said to her, "It's ok. He's just insane. Stay away from him."

"HEY I HEARD THAT!" Cam yelled at Sanji but Nami shoved them out of the infirmary and said, "Sanji, get something for Ia, Cam, go look for a doctor!"

Cam was gone in a literal flash and Sanji, grumbling, went up to the kitchen to make Ia some mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favourite.

"It's ok. The crazy guys are gone. All that's left is the mean one and the nice one!" Nami said comfortingly to Ia, who was hunched in a ball, sitting, on the table still.

"ARE... YOU... ALL...RIGHT...?" Skie asked slowly and loudly.

"She lost her memory, not her hearing!" Nami said loudly to Skie, who backed off a bit.

"You know, we could put this to good use." Zoro said as if Ia couldn't hear him and wasn't there.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked, getting down from the table where she had been sitting next to Ia.

He beckoned her over and said, "To get her back for all the horrible things she's done to us, we could say that she's our maid!" he whispered in her ear.

Nami glared and said, "That's mean!"

"She's mean."

"That's true. Skie! Ian! Come here!" Nami said and then told them of their plan. Ian objected, but Skie agreed and Ian was forced to agree, too.

"Your name is Ia." Skie said to Ia, who nodded and said, "Ok... Ia."

"You are our maid!" Zoro said, grinning broadly.

"Maid?"

"You clean our ship and do whatever we tell you to do with a smile on your face! Oh, and you call us all by Sir or Madam!"

"Yes, sir." Ia said and Zoro was almost giddy with happiness.

Skie went up to tell everybody else about their plan and then Zoro, Nami, and Ian brought Ia up to the kitchen to re-meet everybody.

"This is Luffy, Usopp, Chey, Zac, Kelly, Chopper, Sanji, Izzy, Shanks, and you remember Skie!" Ian said, pointing out everybody. They were all grinning broadly. Finally they get to get back Ia without her knowing, reading their minds, or killing them.

"Hello madams, sirs!" she said and Zoro then said, "You're to curtsy when you address us."

"Oh, sorry, sir." then she, even though she was wearing shorts, made a curtsy as if she were wearing a skirt. Even doing the hand movements.

"Ia, go scrub the ram's head with this." Luffy said and handed her his toothbrush (it had gone green, and I'm not talking about the handle).

"I need some hot water and soap." she said and Sanji was already there, handing her a tin bucket with hot soapy suds in it.

"Thank you, sir!" she said and did a little bob of a curtsy.

"You're welcome!" he said and once she left the room, everybody burst out in tearful laughter.

S-O-M-E-T-I-M-E-S-S-H-E-F-O-R-G-E-T-S

Cam ran around the island down every street and up every dark alley trying to find a doctor who could help Ia's amnesia. When he finally did, he told him to come back tomorrow morning.

So, Cam ran back to the Going Merry. This all took about maybe five minutes?

He walked up the gangplank and didn't see Ia up on the ram's head, scrubbing it for her captain. Instead, he went into the kitchen where everybody was still laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked, coming in.

"To get back at Ia, we told her she was our maid!" Luffy said, doubled over with his arms around his stomach as he laughed.

"Get back at Ia?" he asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, she doesn't remember a thing and so we told her she was our maid! She even calls us sirs and madams and curtsies to us!" Zoro said, laughing so hard he was on all fours with tears falling from his eyes.

"Oh..." Cam said and then asked, "Where is she?"

"Out on the ram's head, scrubbing it with Luffy's toothbrush!"

"Ew!" Cam said and then was instantly right next to Ia a second later. She screamed in surprise when he appeared.

"Oh, hello, sir. You startled me!" she said in her soft high pitch polite voice. Not her normal toned, kind of rude voice. She seemed so innocent and helpless when she talked like that.

"Hello, Ia. Why are you listening to them?" Cam asked as she continued to scrub the ram. Her hair was in pigtail braids, which helped emphasize the fact that she was now the crew's helpless little slave.

"Because I am their maid. That's why." she said so confidently that it was as if she had been their maid her whole life.

Cam was about to tell her that it was all a lie when he rememberd all the things that she had done to tick him off and then he said, "You take all our orders, right?"

"Yes, I do, sir."

"Well, then, I order you to stop scrubbing that ram's head."

She obliged and stepped down. She stood plainly before him, her hands behind her back, a small smile on her face.

Cam smiled too, but more evilly like Ia use to.

I-F-I-O-N-L-Y-H-A-D-A-B-R-A-I-N

Luffy came out about ten minutes later to find the bucket still full of suds and his ram's head only half clean. He sat on it anyway.

Zoro then came out to check on Ia and give her more orders when he saw Luffy laying on his favourite spot, soaking up the last bit of sun before it set, even though it was around 4:15 in the afternoon. The sun set early here and rose very early despite the time.

"Where's Ia?" he asked Luffy, who picked up his head and said, "I don't know."

"What? Where could she have gone?"

"Maybe she went with Cam. He came out here earlier." Luffy said and laid his head back down.

Zoro found Cam in the girls' room, laying on Ia's bed amongst many pillows that seemed to have been taken from all the beds in the room. Izzy's, Chey's, Skie's, Nami's, and Ia's. Ia was next to him, fanning him with a leaf from one of the palm trees that were around the beach here. She was also feeding Cam purple grapes from a big silver bowl.

"What are you doing, Ia?"

"Hello, Sir. I'm just doing as ordered." Ia replied as she continued to manually feed and fan Cam. It seems that she had forgoten that she could use her mind to do such things.

Zoro glared and then said, "Go set the table and then serve us all our meal!" Zoro said, pointing to the trap door.

"I was ordered by the Captain not to take any orders from anybody but him." Ia said plainly, her smile gone from her face.

Zoro, grumbling, went to get Luffy and drag him down to Ia so she could serve them.

"Hey, Ia!" Luffy said cheerily.

"Hello, Sir!" Ia said, smiling.

"Tell her!"

"Ok, Ia, do what Zoro said."

"I'm not to take any orders except from the Captain." Ia said, her smile gone again.

Luffy stuttered and then said, "I am the Captain!"

"No, he is." Ia said, jerking her head towards Cam, who waved merrily at the real Captain and his First Mate.

"He's no Captain!" Zoro yelled and Luffy yelled, "Yeah!"

"He said so. And I'm not to take any orders except from him. I'm his personal... what was it, sir?"

"My French Maid."

"Ah, yes, I'm his French Maid!"

Luffy and Zoro both had their jaw's on the floor and their eyes wide. They could not believe this!

"I can not believe this!" Zoro yelled and Ia said, "I have this weird feeling that I am forced to trust him? Odd, no?" she said and they understood, well, Zoro understood perfectly. Before she got amnesia, she and Cam, being engaged, were bound to trust each other, for that's typically what relationships are held together on. That and love, but that's a different story. So of course that carried over to her new memory, but not the fact that she's got this massive power with her mind and water? No, of course not.

"Oh OH!" Zoro said and turned to Cam and said, "I hate you."

"Join the club. Sanji's the president." Cam said back and smirking as Ia continued to fan him.

Zoro and Luffy left, most likely to tell everybody what was going on, when Ia asked, "May I speak?"

"Alright."

"You know, sir, I could hear what they were thinking."

Cam looked up and said, "I know."

Ia looked very confused and said, "You do?"

"Yes. You have a... a power to read minds. That's it." he said. He didn't want her too powerful right now. This might just work and be the best thing that ever happened to him.

"But what's weird is that I can't hear your thoughts? Why is that? Can I only hear Sir Luffy and Sir Zoro's thoughts?"

"First of all, don't call them that. Or any of the guys 'sir.' You only call me sir."

"What about the girls?" Ia inquired.

"Whatever." Cam said, uncaring.

"I can hear their conversation!" Ia said excitedly, "They're talking about me... I think."

"What are they saying?"

"Oh... something about why I got... amnesia?"

"I order you to stop listening!"

Ia blinked and when her eyes opened, her eyes were glowing green. Something Cam had never seen before, but had heard of.

Cam sighed and said, "Yes. You got amnesia. We were coming back from a restaurant we were at, you were lucky we even paid for your meal, it being your day off and all," Cam was keeping up the rouse, "You hit your head on a pole while we were walking home."

"Oh... so I was your maid before that?"

"Yes, of course."

She smiled and said, "Alright, sir!"

G-R-E-E-N-E-Y-E-S

That night, Ia slept in the cargo hold in her bed that was brought down there. Thinking she was still the maid, she didn't mind.

At breakfast, she served everybody. Cam told her too, so they wouldn't go off telling her the truth. He, along with everybody else, wanted this to go ok so they wouldn't have to put up with the annoying Ia any longer. If only, all the guys thought, they could get all the girls to get amnesia. Then they would all have their own personal maid like Cam. But Cam was nice and shared his maid with the rest of them. Although all the guys weren't called 'sir' anymore, it was a pretty sweet deal. A clean ship and no annoying Ia! What could be better?

It was around seven am (which was like noon on other islands) and Ia was out on the deck, scrubbing it for the second time. This time she had a real scrub brush and not Luffy's nasty toothbrush.

She was alone on the deck, being it seven am. The rest of the crew was asleep still. The messed up daylight hours had gotten everybody messed up so they were all asleep still, burning daylight. But not Ia! She couldn't really remember what the normal daylight hours were, so she felt that this was the norm. She saw that everybody else on the island was awake and about, despite the time. She had gotten out on the deck at one that morning (which was like six am normally) and had cleaned it spotless. She felt that she didn't need to be ordered to clean, she was the maid. Or Cam's French Maid.

So, she had swept and swabbed the deck, done all the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, straightened out the cargo hold and in general just straightened up. She had cleaned the bathroom (that took about two hours).

It was when she was cleaning the bathroom that she noticed the silver diamond ring on her left ring finger. She examined the ring and it vaguely ran bells in her mind. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was so familiar to her for some reason. Why?

So, she looked out at the town and decided that she should take a look around. They wouldn't be getting up for another hour and she had found some money (she wasn't stealing!) and decided that she wanted something sweet to eat. Maybe... what was that flavour she loved so much... oh yeah! Mint! Or was it chocolate?

Ia entered a small ice cream and candy shop and found it loaded with kids that only reached her hips. They were all yelling and grabbing the candy and then paying as fast as they could and getting out of there.

Ia waded her way through the sea of little blonds and brunettes and red heads and black heads to the counter and waited there against the cool glass that was over the ice cream till all the little kids were gone.

"I'm sorry for the delay, miss, but the children just got out of school for lunch and you know kids, always spending their money on candy for lunch!" the man around 65 said. He had a bushy white handlebar mustache. He had a round, plump face and a kind smile.

"It's alright! I'm in no rush!" she said as politely as she could. She couldn't muster a curtsy with all the kids, so she just bowed her head.

It took another ten minutes for the kids to all get out of there.

"Phew! Finally, now their teachers can deal with them bouncing off the walls!"

Ia chuckled at that. School... that rang a bell, but why? She seemed to remember someting named Giovanni... Lola? Something yellow and blue streamed through her mind's eye and miners? Why? She shook her head and decided to look at what candy they had.

"What's your name, miss?" the clerk asked, wiping his brow with a spotted handkerchief.

"Ia." she said, still looking at the candy, but turning her head long enough to say her name.

"Odd name. My name's Bill."

Ia turned her head slightly at that name but disregarded it for a moment.

"That name sounds familiar..." Ia said and Bill said, "Oh? Well, it's kind of a common name around here."

"Really." Ia said quietly as she searched through the different candies.

"Yep! But, anyway, what are you doing here? I think I've seen you before, and I don't forget a face! But I can't seem to put it down." the man lied.

Ia looked at him and said, "I don't know why I'm here. Like on this island. I was told I got amnesia while here and I can't remember a thing."

"Oh, you poor thing. Where are you living?" Bill asked, looking concerned as he wiped down the tall ice cream glasses with a rag.

"I'm on one of the Pirate ships back there. I know which one." she added quickly.

"You a Pirate?"

"No, a maid."

"Maid?"

"Yep. To the Captain." Ia said, not as proudly as she did yesterday.

Bill's eyebrow's raised when he said, "Must be some rich Pirate to have his own personal maid."

Ia stopped talking and finally chose some candy. A few chocolate bars and one bag of fruity gummy things in various animal shapes. Elephants, monkeys, dolphins, and tigers. They were very good!

I-W-A-N-T-C-A-N-D-Y

Ia got back to the ship ok enough (she had to double check a few) and found Sanji up making breakfast.

"Good morning, Sanji!" she said brightly as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Ia-chan." Sanji said happily as he cooked up waffles with sausage, bacon, ham, French toast, and a bowl of chopped watermelon, cantaloup, and grapes, blueberries, and strawberries.

"Ia-chan?" Ia asked, being this the first time hearing that name in her new memory.

Sanji looked up and saw her looking at her ring and said, "Sanji... did you give me this ring?"

Obviously she still knew that was a term of affection and he being the first to say that, she must thing that he's the only one on the ship that cared for her.

Sanji didn't know what to say. So he stared.

"Well, Sanji? Did you give me this ring or not?"

He decided to be better then Cam at this point and say, "No, Ia-chan, I didn't," he gulped and sighed and said painfully, "Cam did."

Ia looked like Sanji had just gone mad in front of her eyes.

"No! He couldn't have! If he cared about me so much he wouldn't be ordering me around like this."

Sanji's outlook just turned so much brighter at that. He liked memoryless Ia!

"You're right, but he did. You should ask him!"

"I will." she said and burst out of the kitchen but stopped when she saw a tall, dark haired handsom man standing, in a lab coat, on the deck looking up at her.

"Hello, miss. I'm the Neurologist, Dr. Itor. Jan Itor. Dr. Jan Itor." the doctor said up to Ia, who came down the stairs to properly greet Dr. Itor.

"Hello, Dr. Jan Itor," something else that stuck out to her, why? "What brings you here?"

"Well, a young man came to me yesterday screaming about his fiancee having amnesia. I told him I'd come by today, but I had a few appointments beforehand I had to take care of. Who is the one with amnesia?"

Ia looked up at Sanji and then turned to the doctor and said, "It's me, doctor."

She heard the trap door open but didn't look to see who it was.

"Alright, miss. Just sit there on the stairs and I'll get to work." Dr. Itor said and Ia sat down as the doctor pulled out his supplies.

She then looked at the trap door and saw Luffy already out along with Usopp and Chopper. Coming out right now was Zoro. Then she saw that the girls were up, too, and already going up to the kitchen, but stopped to see what was going on.

"Miss,"

"Ia," Ia corrected.

"Miss Ia, would you please close your eyes." Dr. Itor said and Ia looked once again at the trap door and saw Cam frozen halfway through it, staring at the doctor. Panic on his face.

Ia closed her eyes and then felt the doctors hands at her head and then one of the hands leaving and coming back to her mouth where he slid a smooth and cool liquid down her throat.

She must have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing she knew was the doctor shaking her awake.

"Ia? Do you remember me?"

"Dr. Itor?" Ia said, but not in the voice she had been using for the past day and a half, no. Her normal voice.

"Yes. Do you remember who you are?"

Ia sat up and grumbled, "Yes."

"Do you remember everything now?"

Ia thought for a moment and then said with a fake cheery note, "Yes!" and a smile on her face that suggested something much more evil.

"Good! I'll come by later with the bill." Dr. Itor said and left with a slight bow.

Ia stood up from the stairs and checked herself over as if she were trying on new clothes.

Everybody stood frozen, fear of knowing what Ia might do if she remembered that they had made her their maid.

"Hey, Sanji, I remember who gave me this ring now!" she called up to Sanji, who grinned.

Then, her smile dropping instantly, she walked up to the now standing Cam and said in a deep, dark hiss that would have rivaled a snake, "You... filthy... little... LIAR!" she screamed and then slapped him so hard in the face that he did a complete 360 around on the spot.

They saw what was going to happen, so Zoro and Ian threw themselves at Ia and grabbed both her arms and pulled her back a few feet so she couldn't reach Cam, but they had forgotten that she had just remembered that she had powerful mind powers. Course, she hadn't forgotten, but she'd rather tear Cam limb from limb with her own two hands instead of her mind.

Massive waves crashed up against the sides of the Going Merry as the entire crew was yelling. Ia, screaming about either Cam lying to her or exactly how she wanted to kill him on the spot. Zoro, Ian, and Sanji yelling at Ia to not kill Cam, the rest of the guys yelling at Zoro and Ian to let her go so they don't all drown. The girls were yelling at the guys to stop yelling about themselves and worry about whether or not Cam was going to die that day.

It was Kelly who stopped the fight. She walked up in-between Ia and Cam and placed her fingers in her mouth and whistled very loudly and very high pitch so that everybody shut up.

"OK! Obviously Cam did a very horrible thing here. Ia, you don't have a right to kill him, though."

"YES I DO!" she screamed and tried to break free of the Zoro and Ian's iron grip.

"No. If you remember, we all went along with it."

"Shut up! We don't wanna die!" Usopp hissed behind her and Kelly's face at that was in an annoyed expression. She shook it off and continued, "Why do you want to kill him?"

"Because I did find out I had amnesia, but he explained it that I _ran _into a pole?"

"You did run into a pole." Zac said plainly, pointing out what she did not remember.

"Oh... but then he continued to say that I was a maid the whole time! WHY?!" she screamed and Cam yelled, "My form of revenge!"

Ia smiled and scoffed, saying, "It took you this long to FINALLY get revenge on me?" she said and started laughing as Ian and Zoro continued to hold onto her.

"You can read minds! I couldn't get you back till you couldn't!"

"I still could, if I recall." Ia said blandly.

"But I ordered you not to!"

Ia glared and then her glare turned, slowly, to something more of a confused and slightly scared look.

"I can't hear anything."

* * *

7-2-08

GASP!? What does this MEAN?

SonGTImE

Sometimes She Forgets- Travis Tritt  
If I Only Had A Brain- The Wizard of Oz  
Green Eyes- Coldplay  
I Want Candy- Bow Wow Wow


	28. Getting Ready For A Wedding

Number Twenty-eight! OH MY GOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! Four more to go!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"What do you mean?" Ian asked as Ia looked around frantically.

"I can't hear anybody's thoughts except my own!" she said in a high pitch scared voice.

"Awesome!" Cam said only a little meanly.

She glared and suddenly Cam was flying backwards into the sea.

Zoro and Ian let her go and she walked away back to the girls bedroom to get some sleep.

T-O-R-T-U-R-E-D-T-A-N-G-L-E-D-H-E-A-R-T-S

It was the next day and the girls were at the bridal shop while Ian, Sanji, Usopp, Zac, Cam, Shanks, and Luffy were in the tux shop next door.

"So... this is the wedding dress you were looking at?" Nami asked, looking at the sleeveless dress with a lacy puffy skirt half. The torso part was studded with little rhinestones in pretty swirly designs. It came with a pair of long white gloves and a cubic zirconia tiara.

"Yes. I'm forced into it by Alice. Don't let her tell you to do anything! She's controlling!" Skie said cautiously, wide eyed.

"Ok?" Kelly said, looking at the bridesmaids dresses in a sense of mild disgust.

"So, where are the Bridesmaids dresses?" Ia asked, her and Chey grinning broadly as they looked at Skie. They knew that her sister wasn't here and that Skie now had to pick a maid of honor. It was between Ia and Chey, and since Ian's Best Man was Sanji, it could be either. His other groom's man was Luffy (his father's idea).

"Does the Maid of Honor get a special dress?"

Skie, who was leading the pack of raving wolves, aka the girls of the Going Merry, down the store to the multi coloured dresses in back, said, "No. You just walk down with Sanji and look pretty, but not as pretty as me!" Skie barked and out from the back of the store came Alice.

"Oh, hello again, Skie!"

"Hello, Alice. I think Ian needs some help over there!" she said quickly and Alice turned and went into the tux shop next door through the door at the other end of the room.

When Alice walked in, she saw Ian, Sanji, and Luffy all wearing tuxes. Ian had a white bow, Sanji had a dark purple bow, and Luffy had a red bow.

"Hello, Ian! How nice to see you again. I see you're fairing better than your fiancee over there! How nice you boys look!" she said, smiling kindly and Sanji and Luffy both said, "Thanks!"

"Hello, Alice. Yeah, we've picked our tuxes. How do you like them, dad?"

"They look smashing, me boy!" Shanks said in an Irish accent.

Ian looked a bit confused, but passed it over and turned back to Alice.

"So, who's the Best Man?" Alice asked.

"Sanji is. See, Skie and I agreed that the Best Man and Maid of Honor would be wearing dark purple. Sanji's got a dark purple tie. Then the groomsman and bridesmaid would be wearing red. Luffy's got a red tie on."

"Oh, how nice," Alice said.

"I don't know why we had to come?" Usopp said as he, Zac, and Cam stood there amongst the other tuxes.

"So the ratio isn't more girls to guys. Now there's more guys to girls."

"Oh. Ok. Why did we have to come?" Usopp repeated, getting annoyed.

"Look, those girls are like a pack of wolves! I'm not facing them alone, not without a backup behind me!"

"I'm gonna go see exactly how wolfish these girls are." Zac said and Usopp followed. Cam stayed where he was.

"You're not going too?" Usopp asked, stopping with Zac.

"Hell no! Ia's over there." he said quickly from where he was sitting on top of a table full of ties. He had moved a bunch over so he could sit.

"She still mad at you?" Luffy asked.

"Yes, but she's got a different way of showing it today. Today she's being completely sarcastic and mocking everything I say."

"Hey, why is it that she can't read minds?" Zac asked.

"Hell if I know. I told her not to when she had amnesia, so maybe it carried over, who knows?"

P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L-B-R-E-A-K-U-P-S-O-N-G

Zac and Usopp walked into the dress shop and saw the girls standing there around Skie, looking very VERY wolfish. They were surrounding Skie like she was a rabbit and they were hungry.

"What are you doing?" Usopp asked, walking up and all the girls turned to him at once like they spotted an even bigger rabbit and feeding time was drawing closer. Usopp jumped behind Zac instantly.

"Skie's not telling us who's going to be the Maid of Honor!" Izzy said sharply and Skie then yelled, "ALRIGHT, I'LL TELL YOU! Chey."

"WHAT?" Ia yelled.

"WHAT!" Chey screamed.

"Yeah, Chey, you get the purple dress." Skie said, throwing the dress at Chey.

Chey took the dark purple dress with happiness as Ia stared in disbelief.

"WHAT!? WHY HER!?"

"So you can wear the red dress." Skie said and gave Ia the dark red dress and she took it and said, "Sweet! So does that mean I have to walk down the aisle with Luffy?"

"Yeah."

Ia looked over the matching dress (except for colour), and said, "Ok. As long as I get the dress! I'm good!"

"Does this mean you're not mad?" Usopp asked, peaking his head out from behind Zac's shoulder. His long nose poking out on Zac's shoulder and Zac inching away from it. Disgusted.

"Mad about what?" Ia asked, gazing at her dress. It and Chey's dress were identical except that Chey's dress was dark purple. The dresses were floor length and were straight down but not clingy but more flowy like liquid down from where this black ribbon (which was sewed into the dress) was right below the chest. The dress was sleeveless.

"About Cam and the maid thing?" Usopp asked and Zac placed his face in his hand and scooted away from Usopp. Clearly disappointed and not wanting to be caught in Ia's wake.

"Of course I'm still mad. Why wouldn't I be?" she said and turned back to her dress as she and Chey went to try them on.

Cam then appeared next to Usopp, causing Usopp to fall into the shoe rack from surprise and fright.

"Told you she was still mad at me." he said as Zac helped Usopp up.

"I didn't think she wasn't!" Usopp said, shaking still.

Then Chey and Ia walked out from the dressing rooms wearing their dresses and posing. They liked wearing dresses, quite unlike Skie.

"You look pretty, Ia." Cam said, making an example for the boys.

"Oh I'm sure I do." Ia said in a very mocking tone as she admired herself in the mirror.

Cam then turned to Zac and Usopp with an 'I told you so' look.

W-E-C-A-N-W-O-R-K-I-T-O-U-T

So, the dresses were bought. Next on the agenda was the rings, flowers, food, and guests. Ian and Skie decided to go first with the rings.

But they didn't need any help with this so they refused anybody's company.

So, the crew decided to help a bit (really, under Sanji's order) to make the ship look more like it's going to have a wedding soon. Meaning they were to put up decorations, place flowers, and just add an air of celebration and joy. To some of the crew members, it sounded like they were celebrating Christmas and not a wedding.

So, it was around noon on the island and the crew was busy putting up wedding decorations. Zoro and Sanji were on the starboard side of the main mast, placing a long white banners along the top of it like Ia and Luffy were doing on the port side of the main mast and Cam and Zac were doing on the back mast. The Straw Hat Jolly Roger was slowly being covered up by the white banners. Down on the deck, Nami and Chey were wraping the same kind of white banner around the railing. Kelly and Izzy were planning the floral design while Shanks and Chopper were off finding all these flowers that they will eventually buy (it still was April and the wedding was in June). Usopp had designed it all on paper and was looking it over when Skie and Ian showed up with their soon-to-be wedding rings.

"You do know it's April?" Ian asked, "Our wedding's not for another two months."

"Yeah, we know," Ia said, swinging down from the top of the mast on a rope. She didn't levitate because she thought that swinging down on a rope was more fun, "It was Sanji's idea!" she hissed when she got to them.

"You guys didn't have to do this for us!" Skie said, smiling.

"We know." Zoro said as he landed beside Chey, getting himself a slap upside the head for that statement.

"We're happy to do it!" Chey said as she and Nami finished up.

"Thanks!" Skie said as she pulled out her ring to show Ia and Chey, who were squealing with delight. Such girls they were.

Y-O-U-C-A-N-T-A-F-F-O-R-D-N-O-R-I-N-G

April flew by into May. Not much happened between then anyway. Luffy ate triple his weight in meat in one day, Zoro slep, Chey kicked him awake, Shanks got weirder and weirder, Skie and Ian were more into PDA then before, Nami mapped, Sanji cooked, Izzy and Kelly became good friends, Cam hung around with Zac, Ia hung around with her Amigops, and Usopp and Chopper developed new weapons, you know, same old same old.

"It's been a month and you still haven't forgiven him?"

"Why should I?"

"Because, you know, you two are kinda engaged!"

"So?"

Ia, Skie, and Chey were sitting outdoors at a café on the new island they were on. They left the first island a few days after they decorated the ship, which proved to keep its decorations well enough even through harsh rain storms, snow, and Skie on sugar.

The new island they were on had normal daylight hours, so everybody was back to the norm. This island was called Rose Island and Skie and Ian had decided to have the wedding on this island! Mainly because there was a nice cliff overlooking the shore with a big open grazzy knoll perfect for the wedding. So, this was where they were staying for a month before the wedding.

"It's been a month!" Skie rang out from behind her cocoa cup. Ia had cocoa too and Chey had tea.

"So?" Ia said, rubbing chocolate off of her upper lip with her sleeve. She was wearing a dark purple shirt today with short sleeves and a pair of tan shorts. Skie was wearing a grey top that had light blue medium length sleeves and a pair of jeans. Chey, a black top with jeans. Her hair was up with two chop sticks holding it up.

"So! You can't expect to marry him angry, are you?" Skie yelled. Since when has Skie been so uptight about these kinds of things. She sounded more like Chey or Ia, who were both staring at her blankly.

"Whoa! No need for the fifth degree!" Ia said, holding her hands up as if to block Skie's fifth degree burning abilites.

Skie glared and Chey said, "What's up?"

Skie turned to Chey and said, "Ia's not forgiving Cam so everything is getting screwed!" Skie started and Ia said, "Oh, pff-AW!"

Skie ignored her and continued, saying, "I don't want everybody getting mad, especially when Ian's nakama is coming!"

"Well, you and Ian fixed it, didn't you?" Chey asked and Ia asked, abruptly and loudly, "Fixed what?"

"Yes, and he agreed." Skie said and Ia yelled, "Who agreed?"

"How did Luffy take it?" Chey asked, as if Ia wasn't there, yelling, "How did Luffy take what!"

"Good, he hated that suit anyway!" Skie said, smiling.

Then Ia got it, "Oh no you did not." she hissed.

"Did not what?" Skie asked, trying hard not to laugh as she mocked Ia's questioning for the past minute and a half.

"You did NOT switch Luffy with someone else!"

"What's wrong, Ia? You like Luffy?"

Ia's ice glare turned to Chey and she said, "Who did she switch Luffy with?"

"Cam." Skie said simply, looking at Ia as if nothing was wrong.

"Why." Ia hissed so much like a snake.

"So you two would be forced to be together!" Skie snapped.

"You're willing to risk your _own _wedding for the sake of fixing _my _relationship?" Ia hissed, putting a lot of emphasis on 'own' and 'my.'

"It's not risking. I thought you two would like to practice going down the aisle together." Skie said but Ia, who had regained use of her telepathic powers three weeks earlier after she had accidentally hit her head on the glass porthole to see if it really was raining, was listening to Skie's thoughts and learned it was half torture, half an attempt to get Ia and Cam to stop fighting.

"I believe the torture half of your plan," Ia said, slipping her cocoa through a tiny straw that was in a little cup on the table and then using it to stab her marshmallow and then eat it. "But why do you insist that we stop fighting."

"You're the only one who's fighting, Ia." Chey said, looking at Ia over her tea cup that she was then drinking out of.

"If one is fighting, everyone is fighting." Ia stated, ripping off a chunk of her marshmallow with her teeth and eating it like a ravaged wolf.

"Ah man, I'm gonna be late!" Skie said as she looked down at her watch and then picked up her stuff.

"Late for what?" Chey asked as Skie got up and was about to walk out to the middle of the street.

"Meeting Ian to pick out flowers!" she said and then rocketed up into the sky.

"Bet you five bucks she falls on Zoro." Ia said, turning to Chey, who said, "You're on!" and they shook.

R-O-S-E

Skie did not fall on Zoro, but rather next to Ian at the flower nursery. It didn't scare him, but the florist nearly had a heart attack.

Once he caught his breath and checked his heart rate, he took them through the green houses.

"Here are our special roses! All grown, like all the other flowers, here on Rose! Does the fiancee like them?" the florist, a small man with balding white hair and rosy red cheeks asked as Skie stared in awe at the rainbow of coloured roses. Black, red, purple, pink, orange, yellow with red tips, white, green, any colour you could think of and they were there!

"I love them!" she said in her high pitch voice.

"And what will the bride's maids be carrying?"

"Lilies." Skie said as she stared at the bed of blood red roses.

"Ah, white lilies, or _Lilium candidum._" the florist said in a matter-o-factly tone of voice, like he knew everything.

"Uh... sure?" Ian said as Skie lightly touched one of the red roses.

"I'll take a dozen of these!" Skie said, pointing to the red roses, "Freshly picked the day of my wedding!"

"Your wedding?" Ian asked, teasing a bit. But his smile was wiped away when he saw Skie's glare and hiss.

"I mean... _our _wedding." she said and Ian stared at her like she was mad.

I-R-I-S

"She's as mad as a hatter!" Ia claimed when Ian told her later that day. They were both sitting in the girls' room alone, everybody else either in the kitchen or up on deck. Ia was actually in the big walk in closet trying on her bride's maid dress while Ian was complaining that Skie was turning into a psycho.

"But why is she... what? Mad as a hatter?" Ian asked, thinking all girls have gone insane.

"Never mind," Ia said, coming out from behind the dressing screen that was infront of the closet door and turning her back towards Ian and saying, "Zip it up, please?"

While Ian zipped up Ia's dress, he asked, "Why is she going more insane?"

"She's panicking about the wedding! If anything is just the tiny bit wrong, it's going to completely destroy the wedding and she does NOT want that to happen." Ia said, turning around and letting go of her extremely long hair so it fell down her back. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.

"Can't she do that without becoming more insane?" Ian asked, exasperated and falling onto Ia's bed, which, along with Nami's, was the only one made. Kelly's lime green comforter was half on the floor, Chey's lavender purple comforter was bunched into a ball at the foot of her bed, Izzy's hot pink comforter was twisted into odd angles, and Skie's sky blue comforter was on the floor. Nami's tangerine orange comforter was nice and straight on her bed and Ia's blood red comforter was just laying on the bed in a straight fashion.

"Maybe, but that rarely happens."

"What do you mean?" Ian asked, sitting up and looking at Ia, who was looking at her back side now, examining how she looks in the dress. As dark a red as her comforter.

She turned her head towards him and said, "Well, when my brother was getting married, my older sister and I helped his fiancee, our future sister-in-law, out with the wedding stuff. She became so obsessed with details and such that eventually we were just there "helping."" Ia said, putting up her two fingers and making the quoting sign. "She went completely off her rocker and once the wedding was finally over, she became her old self again!"

"But Skie's already insane, so will she become her old self again afterwards?" Ian asked as Ia walked over in these two inch red heals that she got to match the dress.

"Probably. But right now she's in the psycho phase. Earlier, for some reason, she was in the 'Oh my God I'm getting married!' phase for a very long time. Next will be the 'Oh my God it's the day of the wedding I'm going to have a cow' phase. But don't worry about yourself, it's going to be the girls handeling her on that day. You don't get to see her till she's completely calm and happy and ready!" Ia said, smiling to reassure her friend, who smiled back and said, "Alright, I believe you." and got up to leave, but Ia said, "Just don't get in her wake because if you do there will be no wedding."

Ian half turned his head and dared to ask, "Why?"

"No, she won't kill you." Ia said, who was halfway pinning up her hair.

"Oh... ok..." he said nervously and left the room as she changed back into her normal clothes.

A-S-M-A-Y-O-R-O-F-T-H-E-M-U-N-C-H-K-I-N-C-I-T-Y

"Wait... what?" Kelly asked as the girls congregated in the girls' room late that night. Well, they were all already asleep except for Skie, who had a sudden brain blast and had to wake them all up to tell them! So, sleepy eyed and getting crankier by the second, everybody in the room listened to Skie's idea..

"A Bachelorette Party! I could have a Bachelorette party and Ian can have his little Bachelor party."

"Wait, you're letting Ian have a Bachelor party?" Nami asked, looking at Skie while trying to keep her eyes open.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're becoming a control freak and you're lashing out pretty hard on the Groom-to-be of yours." Ia said, as she laid on her stomach across her comforter, her head in her arms.

"I am not!" Skie said, getting confused.

"Oh really? Because Ian was down here today asking me why you were becoming MORE insane!"

Skie's head did a creepy Exorcist move towards Ia where her head turned slowly and her eyes were wide and malicious.

"So, Skie, where are we having the party?" Izzy asked, changing the subject.

"Well," Skie said, getting right back into the peppy mode, "I was thinking we hit the different things around here, like bowling, the shooting range, the spa, all those kinds of things and then we go moonlight swimming!"

"Skie, you do know that half of us in this room, including you, can't swim." Ia said gravely. The one thing she hated about this world, and it was her favourite thing back home.

"They've got a freshwater lake out in the woods."

"Awesome!" Ia and Izzy said together and then kind of glared at each other for a minute.

"We can tell the guys tomorrow morning!" Chey chimed in, trying to break the tension between Ia and Izzy.

"Why tomorrow? We can tell them right now!" Skie said and got up from her bed and went up the stairs to the trap door. The rest of the girls looked at each other and then sprang over to the wall where the emergency door was and opened it to watch.

In the boys' room, light flooded in for a second then it was gone! If anybody was looking into the little opening in the wall, they would have saw five faces looking back.

They watched Skie open the trap door and walk down into the dirty abyss that was the boys' cabin.

She stopped at the foot of the stairs and started yelling very loudly to wake the sleeping boys.

Nearly half of them fell out of their hammocks and the ones who didn't have hammocks, those who had beds, stared as they tried to wake. All of them were yelling.

"Ok, stop yelling," Skie shouted over them and then turned to Ia, who rolled her eyes and all of a sudden, all the boys stopped yelling. Their mouths were forced shut. "Alright! Now that you've stop yelling, I can tell you that we're planning a Bachelorette Party and you guys can have a Bachelor Party if you want.

"We can?" Ian yelled and Skie looked over and said, "Yep!"

There was a murmur of approval going around the room and Skie said, "Alright! I'm going back to bed! Good night!" she said and then got into a track start aiming at the emergency window. The girls had to dive out of the way for risk of being hit by Skie crashing through.

* * *

7-15-08

Ok... that took FOREVER to write. Be happy I kept this version even.

SONgtiME

Tortured Tangled Hearts- Dixie Chicks  
Potential Break Up Song- Aly and AJ  
We Can Work It Out- The Beatles  
You Can't Afford No Ring- Dixie Chicks  
Rose- from Titanic  
Iris- The Goo Goo Dolls  
As Mayor of the Munchkin City- From Wizard of Oz


	29. The Bachelor Party

Oh my Gosh here's the Parties.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"What... the hell." Ia yelled as Ian and Zac brought Cam up the gangplank.

"He's drunk." Ian said.

"Pretty badly drunk, too." Zac continued.

Ia stared at them like it was their fault as they dropped Cam onto his knees where he stood, completely unaware of his surroundings.

"What happened! It's... wait... it's ten in the morning! How is he drunk? Shouldn't he have a hangover?" Ia yelled as her fiancé got up and started walking around, holding his hands out so he could grab something so he wouldn't fall. He was swaying as he walked.

"He was drinking all night." Zoro said as he came up the gangplank, holding his forehead.

"Were all of you drinking all night?" Ia accused, being the mother for all of them as they stood there, shamefully. All except Zoro and Cam. Cam was hugging the mast and Zoro was banging his head against the wall.

"I wasn't." Zac said and separated himself from the pack and stood behind Ia, who glared down Ian, who was looking very tired, Luffy who was wide awake, Sanji who was shirtless, Usopp who's pockets were full to bursting with money, and Shanks who was shirtless also, who were all shuffling their feet and looking away from Ia's deadly glare and wincing from their painful hangovers. A girl was with them, too. She was standing with Zac behind Ia and Ia paid her no attention. She was mad at the boys, not her... whoever she was.

"Well?" she yelled.

"Yeah... but we're all use to it better then Cam is." Ian said, then looking instantly back down at his feet as they were about to be punished.

"I'm not going to punish you," Ia said and the boys looked considerably happier. "It was your Bachelor Party, so I guess it's not your guyses fault." Ia said, taking her forehead in her hand and closing her eyes as if she were under great stress.

"Oh! Ok!" Luffy said and bounced up to the kitchen where he told Sanji to make breakfast.

Sanji followed, heavy foot as he had been up all night and he was tired.

"You wanna know how he's so drunk?" Sanji asked Ia as he was about to step into the kitchen.

"No, Sanji, I do not want to go through the entire night in your biased words. I'll go through your guyses heads."

"Hey, but you promised you wouldn't do anything to my Bachelor Party!" Ian said as he was leaning up against the mast that Cam was still holding.

"This isn't ruining, this is just learning what happened!"

"No, you can't do that. Skie said that no girl would do anything to my Party and that includes learning what happened without our consent!"

Ia sighed, irate, and asked, "What did happen, then?"

"Well..." Ian started.

_FLASHBACK!_

That night, around ten o'clock, the sun was just beyond the horizon and the night life on Rose Island was just heating up. So, Ian, for his Bachelor Party, decided to take all the guys to the hottest bar in the city. This bar was called _Skin City. _

"Just a bar? Why not go play paint ball like the girls are doing?" Zac asked as they walked up to it.

"Because this is a Bachelor Party! You drink at these things!" Sanji yelled happily, because he knew this was a bar with girls, too.

"Skie said I can't do anything that she and the girls are doing tonight because there's a chance we might run into each other and for her it's an all girl night and for us it's an all guy night." Ian said as they walked into the bar and saw the whole place lit up with red, pink, yellow, orange, and green strobe lights flashing about and moving around like spot lights, too. The place was packed with men and girls in bikinis serving drinks. Loud techno sounding music beat the place about with his hard bass line making the shot glasses clink together. There were men playing poker off in one alcove, another alcove had men with the girls. It really was a Skin City.

"Whoa! This place is AMAZING!" Sanji yelled and ran off quickly into the crowd to the alcove with all the girls. Zoro went straight to the bar next to another man with two swords, showing them off to the fake giggling waitresses. He was too drunk to realize the giggles were fake.

Usopp and Chopper went off to the poker alcove in-between the smoking alcove and the wine alcove. Ian, smiling, went towards the back of the bar where there was a long bar where the waitresses were behind the counter making the drinks. Cam and Zac just went up to the bar to get drinks.

"What'll it be, boys?" the bartender, a plainer looking girl then any of the waitresses asked. She had dull brown hair pulled back into a messy pony tail and was wearing a black button up shirt with a black apron around her waist where she was wearing jeans.

"Grog." they said together and the girl smirked and put down two tankards and said, "Don't pay till your finished, for some girl might wanna pay for you, or some dude drunk enough to think he likes you." and she walked off down the bar.

"I hope someone pays for my drink!" Cam said happily as he started chugging it down. Zac took sips, so he wouldn't get drunk quickly.

"Why?" Zac asked as he leaned over the bar as Cam drained his drink.

"So I don't have to!" Cam said happily as he pounded his tankard onto the wooden bar.

"Take it you didn't bring any money?" Zac asked, eyeing over the entire scene in front of him.

"Oh, I did. I just don't wanna spend any of it!" Cam said cheerfully.

"Think Ia will come by and pay for it?" Zac said, turning back to Cam, who was getting tipsy.

"That'd be great! But no. One of these lovely ladies can pay for mine!" Cam said, nodding to a couple of the waitresses walking by to go behind the counter to talk to the girl bartender that served Cam and Zac their drinks.

Over in the back, Ian was already the man of the hour for he had told the girls it was his bachelor party and so they decided to treat him to a little fun by bringing him behind the bar and dancing with him as they made drinks for the other men sitting at the bar. They also decided to pour drinks down his throat and so now he was getting drunk. They were all dancing and the drunk fat men sitting at the bar were shoving bellis into Ian's belt and down the collar of his shirt.

Out on the dance floor, Sanji was with a few girls on the light up floor. It was like a disco floor with the light up squares that were all different colours.

Luffy was up swinging in the rafters and the cage dancers were laughing as he made funny faces for them as they danced.

Usopp was at the poker alcove, studying what was going on intently.

Shanks was in one of the cages, somehow. Alone, of course. He was dancing up a storm though and half of Skin City was watching, too.

Zoro and the guy at the bar were having a heated discussion about swords and were even pulling out theirs to show.

Cam and Zac were still drinking at the end of the bar. They, somehow, were attracting a few girls that were at the bar for some drinks.

"Yeah, that's right! I'm a Pirate! Captain of a ship, too!" Cam said, not tipsy anymore, but drunk. Zac had already moved several seats away, thinking that Cam was in for it the next morning, and laughing to himself at the thought.

"What is going on there?" Zoro asked, coming up to Zac with a big long cut on his forehead that was bleeding.

"What happened to you?" Zac asked, alarmed, as the girl bartender handed Zoro a rag as if it happened all the time.

"Never mind. So... how is Cam doing that?"

"You wanna do that too?" Zac asked, bewildered at the sudden girl-wanting of Zoro.

"Maybe. We are at a bachelor party... at a bar called _Skin City_. Why not?"

"Aren't you taken?"

"Isn't Ian and Cam taken too? Come on! Live a little!" Zoro said and went over to a table that had a bunch of girls around the ages of seventeen sitting there and he said, "Hello ladies! Mind if I join you?"

The girls giggled and let him sit.

"Don't worry," someone said, causing Zac to jump almost out of his seat. "I put somethin in his drink. He's fine." the girl bartender said, smirking slightly as she leaned over the bar to talk to Zac so nobody would hear.

"Did you... put something in mine?" Zac asked, pointing to his grog and thinking about pouring it out over his shoulder.

"Nah! I'm pretty good at pointing out guys who wanna get some girls and guys who just wanna get out! I'm Kari, by the way!" she said, extending her hand for Zac to shake.

"Zac." Zac said, shaking her hand.

"So. Here for a bachelor party?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Zac asked, taking a drink.

"I saw you guys come in. Plus that green haired dude was talking about some of you guys being taken already. The dude over there with half the staff with you?"

"Yes. His girl- fiancee is gonna kill him when she finds out!"

"I actually didn't put anything in his drink. He looked like he wanted that the whole time. That moss-head is a stick in the mud, so I had to loosen him up!" Kari said, laughing a bit.

"He's taken too!" Zac said, laughing.

"Who else in your party is!"

"Well... Ian is, but he's the bachelor, Cam over there, he's got an evil fiancee, Zoro, but hisgirlfriendisn't as bad as Cam's. Sanji, and you can bet he's gonna be dead tomorrow, and... I don't know about Shanks? By the way where is he?" Zac asked, looking around the giant bar.

"What about you?" Kari asked in a low serious tone.

Zac turned back to her and said, "I'm not taken." flatly.

Kari brightened right up and said, "So, wanna refill?"

_BACKFLASH_

"So... her name is Kari. Huh." Ia said, interrupting Ian's story.

"Yes." Ian said flatly, wanting to get back to his story.

"And Zoro and Sanji are gonna get it when Chey and Izzy find out. HA! That'll be fun to watch!"

"What about you?" Ian asked.

"I have to wait till Cam is sober." Ia said, clearly disappointed about that as she looked down at her unconscious fiance.

"Can I go back to my story?" Ian asked, getting impatient since he was tired.

"Just tell me one thing, how did Shanks end up in the cage so quickly?" Ia asked, leaning forward as they sat on two crates in the middle of the deck in the shade of Nami's trees.

"I have no clue. And I don't want to know. Cuz that cage was empty when he got into it. That I know." Ian said, thinking about it and getting scared.

"Alright. Continue." Ia said.

_FLASHBACK AGAIN_

It was now nearing two in the morning and the night was still going on strong.

Zac and Kari had spent the whole time talking.

Zoro was making out with three different girls, two of which were sitting in his lap, the third standing behind him with her arms around his neck.

Usopp had won three hundred fifty thousand belli playing poker and all the men back there were getting ready to shoot him.

Luffy was asleep in the rafters.

Shanks was still dancing like a mad man up in the cage. His shirt was off and everybody wasn't looking anymore. Or they were because they couldn't take their eyes off the horrible old man body that was waving around up in that cage.

Ian was still dancing with the girls at the all girl bar in the way back. The men were still watching, liking the fact that Ian didn't know anymore where he was he was so drunk.

Sanji was still out on the dance floor. Somehow his shirt was long gone and the girls dancing with him were close. Very close. But Sanji didn't care. He had had one drink that entire night and he knew exactly what was going on. But being Sanji, he was enjoying evey minute of it!

Cam was walking around with five girls, all of whom were as drunk as he was and getting drunker.

"You're a Pirate, what's it like living out on the sea?" Kari asked, sipping her third martini and staring at Zac, who was drinking his sixth grog.

"It's more of an adventure every day!" Zac said, drunk, with a British accent and sounding like Jack Sparrow. "The sea... it twists around and makes it look like we're going to be sucked into a vortex! Which has happened to me before!" Zac said, still drunk and swinging around in his chair. Kari laughing.

"Sounds like fun! Was it... dizzy?" Kari asked, just as drunk as Zac and wheeling around.

"Very!" Zac said and fell off his chair, causing Kari to burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Are you ok!" she yelled, laughing hysterically, leaning so far over the bar that she, too, fell over it.

"Are YOU ok?" Zac asked as Kari got up, laughing still.

"Yeah! Fine! Not like that hasn't happened before!" she said, laughing as they both helped each other up.

They sat there, laughing like the drunks they were now, as Zoro walked by, as sober as he was when he walked in despite the fact that he has had already half his weight in grog.

"What are you doing?" he asked, alone.

"What happened to all the girls that were around you?" Zac asked, swaying as he stood up with Kari hanging on his arm.

"I told them to leave me alone. They finally left when I told them about Chey." he said, rubbing his wrist.

"Where are your swords?" Zac asked, slurring his speech.

Zoro looked down and said, "Ah shit." and walked off.

"Was that Zoro?" Kari asked as they started walking around. She still hanging off of his arm.

"Ya! He's a swordsman! With no swords!" Zac said, feeling silly as they walked around a table a couple times and sat down at it.

"Oh." Kari said and instantly started kissing Zac.

Zac stopped her and asked, "Wait... what are you doing?"

"Kissing you." Kari said, blinking.

"Oh." Zac said and they started kissing again right as Cam walked by with two girls. He stopped, realizing it was Zac, and said, "Atta boy." and walked off again.

W-H-I-S-K-E-Y-L-U-L-L-A-B-Y

By six AM, the manager shooed everybody out of _Skin City_ that wasn't an employee, but Kari left with Zac anyway.

The people who were leaving were either still drinking or were horribly drunk or were getting horrible hangovers. Ian was one of the few that acted sober. He, Zoro, and Shanks were the only ones. Luffy had slept the entire time, Usopp had played poker the entire time, and Sanji had danced the entire time. Cam had to leave without the girls and was sad while Zac got to leave with a girl. This he was glad about. He liked Kari and didn't remember the kissing. She did, though.

"What do we do now?" Luffy asked, bouncing around because he got a full night's sleep.

"Wanna go swimming?" Ian asked, taking a very deep yawn.

"I can't swim." Luffy and Cam said. Cam then collapsed into the dirt on the side of the cobblestone street. Zoro lifted him up and held his limp body under his arm and said, "Wanna just go back to the ship and go to bed?"

"No." Luffy said and all the guys glared at him.

They then found out that they didn't remember how to get back to the ship. Sanji was too tired, Zoro was directionally impaired, Luffy just didn't know, Usopp was too busy counting the money he had in his pockets, Ian was just drunk enough, along with Zac and Cam and Shanks, and Kari just didn't know.

_BACKFLASH_

"It took you four hours to find the ship again?" Ia yelled at Ian, who held his head in pain.

"Yeah. Plus we tried all the other bars in town. They all close at six in the morning." Ian said and then asked, "Can I go to bed now?"

"Yeah." Ia said, irritated as she made her way to the kitchen, where she found Sanji asleep at the table. The food was burning on the stove and Ia quickly took it all off with her mind as she went over to Sanji and gently woke him.

"NO MORE DANCING! Oh, Ia, it's you. Why are you here?"

Ia shook her head and told Sanji to go to bed.

"But Luffy wants breakfast. I don't wanna leave him hungry." Sanji said, trying to get up to go back to the food.

"Go to bed. I'll make breakfast." Ia said and Sanji left the room and a second later Luffy entered.

"Where's breakfast?" he demanded.

Ia looked at him and said, "Bring Cam here and I'll make it." Ia said and Luffy bounded out of the room.

In the mean time, Ia brought up a chair and sat on the very top of the back ofit while the eggs were cooking and the bacon and sausage were sizzling in their pans.

"Here he is, Ia!" Luffy said and dropped the dead-like Cam onto the floor, where he continued to sleep off his alcohol.

"Here you are, Luffy." Ia said, tipping all the contents of the food from the pans onto a plate for Luffy and bringing it over to him mentally while she walked over to where Cam was.

Luffy shoveled it down and left the room to do, as he said, Captain Duties! which really meant that he was going to sit in the Crow's nest all day.

Ia paced around the room as Cam slept.

"I can't just kill him. Where would that get me?" she asked herself as she watched him as she paced around in her jeans and bare feet. The shirt she was wearing was a dark green tee with peacock feather design on it. Her hair was down, straight, red. "I could just push him into the water... nah. Already did that. So why am I still mad? I sought out my revenge! Yeah. I did. Don't I typically get over it after that? I wonder if I can walk on the ceiling? NO! Don't get off topic," Ia said, speaking her thoughts as she paced around. Thinking hard on why she was still mad at him. "I really think I should set a shark on him. But what if I do this ever time I get mad at him? Oh God he's gonna be dead within the first year! I'm surprised he's not dead right now. That's funny, isn't it?"

She talked to herself for an hour or so till she was broken from her long train of thought by Izzy walking into the room.

"Hello." Izzy said surly at seeing who was in the room.

"Hi." Ia said, still pacing and not paying attention very much.

"What are you doing?" Izzy dared to ask. She had been with Ia for more than half a year and this was the craziest she's seen Ia.

"Thinking." Ia replied shortly, watching Cam the entire time she was pacing like a nervous wolf.

"About what?"

"Why." Ia said shortly.

"I just wanted to know!" Izzy shouted, getting defensive.

"No, why. That's what I'm thinking about. Why do I do this?"

"Do what?" Izzy asked, leaning up against the table.

"Do these things. Why do I end up getting so mad and then just blowing everything out of proportion?" She broke her gaze with her dead-like fiancé and looked wide eyed at Izzy.

Izzy was taken aback at the sudden abruptness of Ia and she stuttered and said, "I don't know! If you want some good advice... talk to Ian!" she said and ran out to find him before Ia snapped.

Ia looked away with a far away gaze and stopped altogether.

Ian, who had been dead asleep, walked into the kitchen groggily to find Ia still standing there.

"Izzy says you snapped finally." Ian said, rubbing his eyes. The alcohol running out of his system quickly.

"I did no such thing!" Ia snapped.

"Then what's the problem?" Ian asked, sitting down as Ia started pacing around again.

Ia sighed as she paced and said, "I wanna know why I'm blowing everything out of the water for no reason?"

Ian thought about it and said, "Cuz you like being mad?"

"What? No way!"

"You're mad all the time Ia!" Ian said, almost laughing.

Ia glared at him as she continued pacing around.

"No." she said flatly.

Ian smirked and said, "You know I'm right! You don't have to check my head to know that!" He said and got up to leave but said, "Why are you pacing?"

"I really don't know." Ia said and he left to get some more sleep.

H-E-L-P

Ia was walking around, still, but this time on the ceiling! She heard somewhere that to get better thoughts you needed more blood to the brain. So she was upside down now.

"I can't believe this worked!" she said happily as she walked around.

She crouched down, or rather up, when Sanji walked in and saw Cam still unconscious on the floor. He shrugged and went to the stove.

"What ch'ya doin?" Ia asked, sneaking over silently and flipping around so she was standing right behind Sanji.

"WHA!" he yelled at that, freaking out over the fact that she just appeared. "Oh... I'm making supper." he said, holding his heart and taking deep breaths.

"Oh. I'm gonna go back to pacing about." she said and started walking around again.

"Why are you pacing?" Sanji asked, turning to face her and placing a hand on the counter space and leaning on that.

"I'm thinking. I've been thinking this whole time." Ia said as she continued pacing.

"Thinking about what?" Sanji asked, following her with his gaze as she walked back and forth. Back and forth.

"Oh this and that," Ia said, scatterbrained. "Mainly on why I'm such a horrible person."

"You're just figuring this out?" Sanji asked, teasing her a bit.

Ia stopped and set him with a very subtle glare.

"No. Really? You are?"

"Shut up!"

"What have you been thinking your entire life so far if you're _just _figuring this out!"

"I said shove it!" Ia said, eyes flashing and suddenly Sanji's left arm was bent around so it was up against his back. He was wincing in pain when he said, "Alright! Alright! I'll drop it!" he said and she let go of him with her mind.

"What's going on here?" Izzy asked, walking in with Kelly.

"Oh, Izzy, I'm sorry, but I was just trying to break Sanji's arm." Ia said in a light, conversational tone of voice.

Izzy looked from Sanji to Ia and said, "Oh. Don't break it please."

"I'm not making any promises." Ia said and continued pacing.

Izzy and Kelly paid her no attention as they walked over to Sanji and, being girls, asked for something to eat.

"Of course, Izzy-chan, Kelly-chan!" he said, heart for eye and whipping about and getting food ready for the girls.

Ia watched and her eyes widened.

B-A-C-K-I-N-Y-O-U-R-H-E-A-D

It was late evening as the sun was setting and Ia was sitting on the floor indian style. Her eyes were closed and anybody would think she was asleep, but she was wide awake. Just waiting.

"Oh... my God... did I sleep."

Ia's eye's snapped open and she she quickly said, "I'm sorry."

Cam turned around and looked at her, just realizing that she was there.

"What?"

"Yep. I'm sorry." she said, hanging her head.

"For what?" Cam asked, getting his head back under his control as he could feel the horrible headache coming on.

"Being horrible. To you. Just you. I'm not sorry about being horrible to other people!" she yelled at the door as if everybody was listening.

Cam said nothing as he sat up and rubbed his head.

"You ok?" she asked, getting a glass of water without moving from her spot and bringing it over.

Cam took the water and said, "Yeah. Fine. I can barely remember what happened last night."

"Ian told me the whole story." Ia said, smiling a bit, waiting for his delayed reaction that was to come soon.

Cam looked up and said, "Oh..." slowly but surely.

"Don't worry. I'm not mad. You were drunk."

Cam stared at her as she stared back.

"You sure? You usually kind of make it so much more worse than it is." Cam said finally.

"Maybe it's the Curse working it's way on me?" Ia said, holding her stomach and looking down at it. She shrugged and said, "Or maybe it's just me."

Cam smiled and said, "It's just you."

Ia, instead of glaring subtly at him, kissed him instead.

"What day is it?" Cam asked after Ia broke off the kiss and leaned back.

"Well... in three days is Skie and Ian's wedding!" Ia said, smirking and leaving the room.

* * *

OH MY GOSH THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE WEDDING! Ha ha ha!

That chapter was kinda long... to me...

REVIEW!

SongTime

Whiskey Lullaby- Brad Paisley and Allison Kraus  
Help- The Beatles  
Back In Your Head- Tegan and Sara


	30. The Wedding

OHMYGOSH!

Chapter Thirty

The day dawned unlike any other day before. This time, it was loud.

The guys realized that for some reason all the girls fussed and fussed over something that lasts for about five minutes at the most. A wedding. But today, not just any wedding, Skie's wedding.

It was around eight in the morning and all the guys were groggily awake in the kitchen as Sanji made their breakfast. The ceremony took place at eleven and they didn't know why they were up so early in the first place. The girls had all been awake at six and they were all doing something.

Kelly and Izzy were busy setting everything up out on the deck, which was where they decided the ceremony was taking place. Ia and Chey were busy getting Skie into her dress which she promptly refused to wear, fighting against Alice's spell. Nami and Kari were on guy duty. Making sure they did everything they were suppose to do.

The guys jobs were different. Cam, Sanji, and Ian were to get into their tuxes early along with Shanks, who was to give Skie away. Sanji's job was to cook all the food so it was ready for when the ceremony was finished. Zoro, Usopp, Zac, Chopper, and Luffy were to get dressed up nice and to wait.

They were, at that moment, still all in their pajamas, including Sanji.

"Who wants sausage?" Sanji asked as he brought over the pan of about twenty sausage and they were all gone within the minute.

The door burst open and in came Kari and Nami. Nami was wearing a lilac coloured skirt with a white button up blouse. Her hair was up with two chopsticks holding it up and she was all ready. Kari was wearing a dress that was a light pink with medium length sleeves. Her dull brown hair was up in a bun.

"What are you doing?" Nami shouted and Sanji instantly was up next to her, on her side, obviously.

"Wha?" Luffy asked, sausage in his mouth.

"You guys are suppose to get ready!" Nami shouted and Sanji shouted, "Yeah!"

"YOU TOO SANJI!" she screamed and he was out the door in an insant.

"Cam, Ian, Shanks, you guys are suppose to be getting into your tuxes now!" Kari said a bit softer than Nami. They just sat there and Nami and Kari exchanged glances and Nami smirked and said, "Well, time for plan B!" and the girls left the room.

The remaining guys sat up a bit straighter, wondering what plan B was. They didn't wonder anymore when Cam, Ian, and Shanks were lifted up into the air and were out the door. Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Zoro and Zac left the room to watch as Ia brought the guys down to the lower deck and said, "Either you get into your tuxes, or YOU GET INTO YOUR TUXES!" she screamed and dropped them down into their cabin. In a huff, she turned on her two inch heal and marched back to the girls' cabin.

S-U-B-S-T-I-T-U-T-E

Ia climbed back down to the room where the big white snowbeast that was Skie in her wedding dress was sitting.

"Can't I put it up?" Kari asked as she was brushing Skie's hair.

"No. I want it down. If I have to be in this dress, I want to at least have something my way during this whole thing."

"This is not Burger King!" Ia snapped, then saying, "Oh, watch out Skie. Ian wants to talk to you." Ia said as she sat on her crimson red comforter, examining her nails to be nonchalant (even though she had her long red gloves on already) when they all heard a small knock on the emergency door connecting to the guys' room.

"Skie?" they heard Ian's voice sound.

"What is it, Ian?" Skie asked, standing up and walking over. She was holding most of her dress in her arms as she walked so it didn't get caught on anything.

"Can we talk privately?"

"HELL NO!" Ia yelled but was quickly quieted by Nami and Chey, who held their hands over her mouth. She was looking very distraught at that.

"Ian... you know we can't!" Skie hissed to her soon-to-be-husband.

"We don't have to see each other... but I need to talk to you before the ceremony."

Skie fretted over it for a moment and finally said, "Alright."

"EW!" Nami yelled and she pulled her hand away quickly and started rubbing her palm on Ia's comforter. Chey pulled her's away quickly after.

"What?" Skie asked, walking back over.

"IA LICKED ME!" Nami screamed and ran out of the room. Probably to go sanitize her hand. Ia just looked deviously happy.

"That's disgusting." Skie said as she went and sat down to put her heals on.

"I needed to her her hand offa my mouth." Ia said plainly like anybody else would have done it too.

C-A-N-I-T-R-U-S-T-Y-O-U-W-I-T-H-M-Y-H-E-A-R-T

There was a small knock at the door to the room and the girls crowded around Skie, hiding her from view as she sat at the bar.

Ia opened the door from where she stood and down came Ian in his tux. His hair was combed and swept back nicely with enough gel in it to make a greaser feel like he's got dry hair. His grey eyes were looking away from where the girls stood in various colour dresses and outfits.

"Can I talk to Skie alone?" he asked, looking directly at Ia, who said, "Turn around."

Ian obeyed and the girls let Skie up and, standing back to back, they stood there. Holding hands. Skie's white gloves reaching up to just below her shoulders and her hair down resting on her shoulders.

The girls filed out of the room one by one and the door shut.

"Hey." Ian said, his voice shaking from nerves.

"Hey." Skie said back, keeping her voice steady as best as she could.

"Think Ia's listening?" Ian asked, squeezing her hands.

"Probably. STOP IT IA!" She yelled up at the ceiling.

There was a loud stamp on the ceiling and then silence.

"So... Skie-chan... ready?" he asked nervously.

"Uh... yeah!"

"So... I guess... if you wanted to back out... you could do it now!" he said, trying to joke by Skie could hear the seriousness in his voice.

She squeezed his hands and firmly said, "No. I'm not backing out. No matter what!"

Ian smiled, "Me too, Skie!" he said and left her grasp and went back up to the deck.

O-H-H-O-W-L-O-V-E-L-Y-I-S-T-H-E-B-R-I-D-E

"MUSIC!" Ia screamed, just remembering that the guys that weren't already in the wedding party were to hum the wedding march.

Shanks' crew was on their ship which was docked right next to the Going Merry.

Ian was standing next to Luffy, who was going to be doing the marrying and watched as Sanji and Chey walked down the aisle towards the mast that was where he and Luffy were standing.

Next down the aisle out from the door was Cam and Ia, who, like Chey, had her hair up in a pretty bun done by Kari, who was standing beside Zac. It was Zoro, Usopp, and a few from Shanks' crew doing the humming and sounding good, quite unlike the night before at the Rehersal Dinner.

When Cam and Ia separated, it was then that Ian saw his bride.

Skie.

She had her white dress on and she looked beautiful in it. Shanks, next to her, didn't have the walker he had stolen from Ia's grandparents' house. He was walking as erect as possible with Skie on his arm. Her veil pulled over her face but Ian could still see her beaming face as they walked down the aisle slowly to the music.

She walked up to Ian after Shanks gave her a hug and sat down in his chair on Ian's side of the aisle.

Luffy cleared his throat with as much enthusiasm as he could muster till Chey kicked him quickly and he stopped, opening the book and saying, "Dearly departed-" KICK "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to marry Ian and Skie. Do you have the rings?"

Usopp walked up on his knees to be shorter than everybody there (he was looking only a little annoyed at this) and held up the pillow holding the silver wedding rings.

"Ian, place the ring on Skie's finger and say this, Skie, do you take me to be your lawfully wedded husband," Luffy said, perfectly practiced and Ian did as he was told.

"Skie, do you take me to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"To have and to hold,"

"To have and to hold,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"Forever and ever?"

"Forever and ever?"

"Till the day I die?" Luffy said.

"Till the day I die?"

Luffy and everybody stared at Skie for her answer.

"I do!" she said happily.

"Skie, place this ring on Ian's finger and repeat after me. Ian, do you take me to be your lawfully wedded wife,"

"Ian, do you take me to be your lawfully wedded wife,"

"To have and to hold,"

"To have and to hold,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"Forever and ever?" Luffy said.

"Forever and ever?"

"Till the day I die?"

"Till the day I die?"

Now everybody stared at Ian, who said, "I do!"

"I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now... kiss the bride." Luffy said with mild disgust in his eyes as Skie and Ian kissed and when they broke apart, they heard the sound of a pistol clicking.

Shanks's crew was over onto the Going Merry, holding their pistols at everybody's head.

"Sorry, Cap'n!" one of Shanks' crewmen said, aiming his own pistol at Shanks' head.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!" he roared and all the crewmen from his crew suddenly had red skin and were all identical. Their clothing became the florescent colours of pinks, blues, greens, and oranges.

"Ah crap." Ia, Zac, Cam, and Chey said.

"What the hell?" Skie asked.

"It's the Candymen. Where's the Candyman?" Ia snapped and he stepped out from behind the mast on Shanks' ship. He had a sinister smile on his face and he snapped his finger so that his candymen made a bridge for him to walk over to the Going Merry.

"Hello, Straw Hats! Remember me!" he said, smiling all the while as he walked up to Ia and stroked her face gently. She jerked her head away from his hand, causing the barrel of the pistol to dig deeper into her temple.

"Who are you?" Skie asked, confused as to why there was a pistol at her head.

"You are new," the Candyman said, walking up to her and gazing at her features.

"What do you want?" Chey snapped at him and he smirked.

"I'm seeking revenge on the Straw Hats! I've had a spy going around trying to find you. I lost you for several months but then I was informed that you were now back and I could seek my revenge!"

"A spy on our ship?" Luffy asked, getting mad. He had two pistols at his head.

"Yes! And you'll never guess who!"

"Who is it?" Luffy hissed, getting angry.

The Candyman's face fell and he said in a fake whining tone, "You're suppose to guess!"

After seeing the look on Luffy's face, he shrugged and grinned evilly and said, "Shanks!"

Ian looked like he was about to faint as he stared at his father, or what he thought was his father as he stood up. He smiled evilly and mophed into one of the Candymen.

"Dad!" Ian yelled out, trying to move but two Candymen held him back by holding his arms.

"Men, bring out the real Shanks!" the Candyman yelled happily and two Candymen came out, restraining the real Shanks. He looked much better than the one that they've been with since January. He wasn't hunched over, he wasn't fat, and other than the grey that was creeping into his hair, he looked just like anybody would know him. He had a gag around his mouth and his one arm was tied to his back with the rope going around his waist. The candyman holding him untied the gag and he yelled out, "Ian! Izzy!"

"DAD!" Ian yelled while Izzy screamed, "DADDY!"

"YOU JACKASS!" Ian yelled at the Candyman, who just shined his nails on his bright yellow vest and examined them.

"Take them back." he said, still examining his nails as the Candymen roughly forced everybody onto the dock and into the town.

T-O-T-H-E-P-I-R-A-T-E-S-C-A-V-E

The Candyman's lair was hidden deep in the woods of Rose Island. The way he kept his prisoners wasn't the usual way a villain would. He had wooden seated swings suspended from the very high branches. They were all suspended at different lengths. The swings were in a circle like shape in the trees where all the lower branches were cut away so they couldn't grab onto anything. In the highest swing sat Zoro (who's swords were taken from him) and in the lowest swing next to Zoro's swing was Usopp. To Usopp's right was Zac, then Nami, Kelly, Kari, Sanji, Chey and then it was back Zoro. Shanks, Ian, Izzy, Ia, Cam, Luffy, Skie, and Chopper were in his actual lair which was in an underground tunnel that use to be a mine for rubies on Rose Island. He dug it out deeper and bigger so he could use it to his evil uses.

"What do we do now?" Kari asked as she held onto the ropes. She looked down at the forest floor which was a good fourty feet from her shoes.

"We have to try and get down." Zac said, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"How do we do that? Ia's in the Candyman's lair!" Kelly shouted angrily.

"We can do it without her! They got us up here, didn't they?" Zac said, looking at Kelly, who huffed, crossing her arms around the ropes so she didn't fall.

"Yeah, but they brought us up by the ladders and lowered us down here!" Zoro shouted. Tensions were running high here for they didn't know what was happening to their friends.

P-O-O-R-U-N-F-O-R-T-U-N-A-T-E-S-O-U-L-S

Down in the mine shaft, Shanks, Ian, Izzy, Ia, Cam, Luffy, Chopper, and Skie were being guarded by the Candymen while the Candyman was over somewhere else.

They were being held in individual tubes, which were a special design of the Candyman (who was amazingly smart and the crew didn't know that). They were designed so that if the person had a Devil Fruit Power they couldn't use it to get out. Ia could smash the thing with her mind, Chopper couldn't smash it with his strength, there was no way Cam could run out, Luffy couldn't stretch his way out, Skie couldn't jump out in any way, and Izzy couldn't do anything because if she changed into someone with powers, it wouldn't work. Shanks and Ian were being held there because they were useful.

Shanks was crouching down in his and Ian was kneeling down in his. The rest of them were desperately trying to get out. Ia had her hands out and was trying with all her might to blast thing thing open, Chopper was pounding on his glass that was the door to the tube, Cam couldn't be seen for he was running around in circles trying to get the thing to move or maybe blow up or something, Skie was hopping and kicking the glass, Luffy was just kicking the glass with his foot and Izzy was turning into different people, trying to get out. The funniest one was when she turned into Zoro. She was wearing a canary yellow dress and when she changed into Zoro, it was Zoro wearing the yellow dress. Ia and Skie nearly died laughing.

"It's no use, guys." The real Shanks said, standing up straight.

"SAYS YOU!" Ia yelled, lowering her arms and sitting down on the floor of her tube. The tubes were made of some sort of metal while there were glass doors in the front so the person could see out them. The glass had a weird yellowish tint to it so everything was golden inside the tube.

"Dad... what happened?" Ian asked, trying to look at his father, who's tube was right next to Ian's. Ian had his face pressed up against the glass.

Shanks sighed and said, "It was around mid December when they found the me and the crew. They fought us but we didn't know they were made of candy, so they beat us and took us all as hostages. We were all interrogated about information on Luffy's crew and only I knew the most. So they had one of their Candymen turn into me, a really bad impression of me, and go out to find you guys."

"But how did they find us if we were in my world?" Ia asked, still sitting in her tube.

"That I don't know. For the next six months we were in his lair, waiting for you guys to return and come to this island."

"Who is this Candyman guy?" Skie asked, looking annoyed as she stood there in her wedding dress.

"We fought him right before we came back last time." Cam explained, standing now and slightly out of breath.

"His minions are made of candy?" Skie asked, looking at the red men standing there.

"Yes. They taste good, too!" Ia said, standing up.

"So, Ian. You're getting married?" Shanks asked slyly, despite the situation.

"Uh, yeah! Dad, meet Skie, my... wife! Skie, dad."

"Hello, Skie." Shanks said and Skie said, shyly, "Hey."

"I have two daughters now! Izzy, do you have a husband I don't know about?" he teased and Izzy said shyly, "I do have a boyfriend!"

"Is he here?" Shanks said, smiling as he looked at Luffy, Cam, and Zac.

"No. He's not in here."

"Who is he then?" Shanks pressed.

"He's Sanji. The blond cook?" Izzy said, hoping her father didn't know who he was.

"That guy? The foofy looking one? The fop?"

Cam, Zac, and Skie started snickering at that and Ia and Izzy glared at them.

"Shut up, you guys!" Izzy yelled at them and then mophed into Ia and tripped them all up.

Everybody stared at her.

"How did you do that!" Ia yelled in awe.

"I turned into you. I can use your powers when I'm you."

"No, I can't use my powers against this... wait..." Ia said and then Skie, Zac, and Cam lifted up and then were dropped again.

"HEY!" Skie yelled

"Ha ha! I can use my powers outside this!" Ia said, dancing with joy.

"HEY!" the Candymen yelled, pointing their weapons at Ia's tube and she just smirked and tripped them all up. Then Izzy flipped them around.

"You're in for it!" one of the Candymen yelled, trying to get up, but Ia was holding them down while Izzy was beating them with their own weapons.

Suddenly, the booming voice of the Candyman could be heard all around the deep mine shaft, "BRING ME THE MIND BENDER!"

Both Ia and Izzy froze and the Candymen got up, laughing harshly, and they opened the tube and forced her out and brought her away.

"I wonder what he's gonna do to her." Ia wondered aloud as she watched them take away the annoying Izzy.

"THEY TOOK MY BABY!" Shanks screamed, pounding on the glass and Ia sighed and looked around.

"What are you doing, Ia?" Cam asked as her face brightened up and floating over to her tube was a ring of keys.

"Watch it!" Skie said as she watched the red men walk off down the tunnel and out of sight right as the yellow of the glass in Ia's door melted away and she opened her door.

F-R-O-Z-E-N

Izzy, still as Ia, was brought into the deep cave and then left alone.

"Hello, Ia," the Candyman breathed into Izzy's ear, causing her to jump. "Don't be nervous." he commanded into her ear.

"What... what are you going to do to me?" Izzy whimpered.

The Candyman moved around to face her directly and he said, "You're not Ia."

"What?" Izzy said, trying to move away but her legs were frozen.

"Yes. You're not Ia! She wouldn't be so scared right now!"

"How... how would you know!"

"My spy sent me reports on all of you. Ia wouldn't be cowering! She would be standing tall and strong. But if you aren't the real Ia... who are you?"

Izzy shifted her eyes around.

W-H-A-T-E-V-E-R-H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D

Shanks led the way, for he knew the place the best. Behind him in a single file line went Ia, Cam, Skie, Ian, Luffy, and Chopper.

"What's he gonna do to my baby?" Shanks asked Ia, who was listening to the thoughts of people around her.

"Shh... he's going to take my power, well, rather hers. She's trying to get away... but she's too scared to move. Ha! He figured out it's not me already. Gotta hand it to him, he is smart."

"SHHH!" everybody hissed at her as they hid behind a pile of red coloured rocks and they all peaked out to see the Candyman and Izzy, who was still in Ia's form.

"WHO ARE YOU?" the Candyman yelled at her as she was cowering.

"Cam, go get her." Ia whispered into Cam's ear and he nodded once in understandment. He got in a track start and was gone. They watched as Izzy disappeared and appeared behind the pile with them in Cam's arms.

"_Thank you_!" she hissed and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"WHAT! WHERE DID YOU GO?" he yelled and started running around his lab area looking for her.

Izzy turned back into herself and they started running back towards the tubes, which was near where the exit was.

They were nearing the tubes again and Shanks turned to his right into a dark and hard to see tunnel to find it filled with Candymen.

"You really didn't think you could escape from here, did you?" the Candyman said, no more fake cheeriness in his voice. His face was set to anger and the Candymen swarmed around them.

* * *

8-5-08

Whosh!

Got the idea for the swings while at my gram's house. She has one of those swings and I was sitting on it and I got a sudden **BRAIN BLAST** and thought they'd be _SWEET_ to use!

SONgtIME

Substitute- The Who  
Can I Trust You With My Heart?- Travis Tritt  
Oh How Lovely Is The Bride?- Church Song  
To The Pirates' Cave- From POTC Curse of the Black Pearl  
Poor Unfortunate Souls- From Little Mermaid  
Frozen- Tegan and Sara  
Whatever Happened- The Strokes


	31. Fighting To Escape

Prolly wondering what's going on aren't ya?

Ha ha

Chapter Thirty-One

"SWING!" Zac yelled and all eight swings hanging in that clearing swung away from the center towards the nearest trees.

It was Zoro who grabbed hold of a tree first.

He felt around and felt the ladder carved into the tree on the other side.

"GOT IT!" he yelled and carefully climbed around the trunk of the tree and grabbed hold of the ladder right as Kari grabbed hold of her tree and shimmied around it to grab hold of the ladder, yelling, "GOT IT!"

She and Zoro climbed down and ran into the clearing and watched as Kelly and Chey grabbed hold of their trees. Zoro ran around to Chey's tree as Sanji and Nami grabbed onto their trees. But as Nami was reaching around, her grasp slipped on her swing and she nearly fell to the ground below, but Sanji lept from his tree to hers and caught her before she fell.

Usopp and Zac were last to get down to the ground, where they found their weapons in the brush. Zoro's swords, Nami's staff, and Usopp's hammer and slingshot.

"Ok... what do we do now?" Kari asked, looking around at the people still dressed up for the wedding.

"Well... the entrance to the mine is right there... I guess we go and help." Zac said, taking charge.

"But everybody down there besides Shanks and Ian have Devil Fruit Powers so I'm sure they're doing alright." Nami said.

P-A-R-A-L-Y-Z-E-R

Everybody was being roughly shoved back into their tubes and the Candyman took the key ring this time, but not before hitting Ia roughly on the head before returning her back to her own tube.

"I bet you're wondering some things." The Candyman asked them, looking smug indeed.

"Yeah... How did you find us?" Ia asked, rubbing her head.

"It wasn't that hard! I managed to keep an eye on the Straw Hat Pirates right before they disappeared underneath me. I destroyed the sails of their ship and led it straight into a malestrom, letting it land on that deserted island. I watched it for a long time. Almost giving up hope!" he said with a tone of fake hopelessness, "But then, oh, then. If it weren't for you and the Blond, I wouldn't have know you were all still alive! I saw how you came and sent my little spy along inside it to where you had orriginated from!"

"You did that to the ship?" Ia asked, staring at the Candyman.

"Yes! I was just going to blow it up, but I thought, 'what if they come back soon?' So I didn't."

"Did you fix the sails then?"

"Yes. Let it sail and at the right time, too. That's when you all started appearing! I couldn't have been happier!"

"Jackass." Ian said in a low tone and the Candyman turned to him with a crazed look.

"It's just the sands of time, I guess!" he said before leaving with his Candymen, laughing insanely.

"What the hell did he mean by that?" Ia asked, rubbing her new goose egg on her head.

It was then that everybody felt something trickling onto their heads and they looked up, seeing sand falling from the ceiling of their tube.

"Sand." Skie said, letting it fall into her hand and through her white gloved fingers.

It was coming down like snow, little by little, barely covering the floor, till suddenly it started coming down quicker and in a bigger quantity so that quickly it was up to everybody's ankles.

S-A-N-D-Y

"We don't know that." Zac said, looking into the deep entrance to the mine.

"I bet Luffy's already beaten him to a pulp and they're coming up right now." Zoro said, leaning against the entrance's doorway with Chey right next to him.

"For some reason I don't think so." Zac said warily.

"We should go with Zac." Kari said, her eyes a shade of purple.

"Kari?" Zac asked, staring at her eyes.

"Yes, Zac?" Kari asked, looking up at him with her dark purple eyes.

"Why are you hazel eyes now purple?"

Kari shuffled her feet and said, "Well... I'm a Devil Fruit eater too. I... I kinda ate the one that makes you Psychic."

"You're a psycho?" Zoro asked, snorting in laughter.

"It's pronounced Psychic, and yes, I am. I can see what's going on before it happens, after it happenes (if I wasn't there), and while it's happening." she said, placing her hand on the door to the mine and saying, "They're going to be dead before we get there."

N-A-T-U-R-A-L-S-N-O-T-I-N-I-T

The sand was now up to everybody's waist.

"I can't move!" Ia yelled, her arms up so they didn't get caught in the sand yet.

"Neither can I!" Cam yelled, trying to run, but he couldn't.

"What do we do?" Shanks yelled at them.

"Pray that the crew finds us!"

Which was what the crew was trying to do.

They had entered the mine and were now going down the extremely slow elevator.

When it reached the bottom, they were as silent as the dead, but they could hear yelling from far off somewhere.

Zac, leading the way down the narrow tunnel, brought them into the lab room right behind the pile of rocks that the others had hid behind the first time.

"Look, there's the Candyman!" Kari hissed.

The Candyman was listening to a snail and they could hear the screaming coming from it that they had heard earlier.

"What is that screaming?" Kelly whispered quietly.

"Zac, we'll take him, you go find the others." Zoro hissed, quietly unsheathing his sword.

"No, we need to stick together. Kari, where are the others?"

Kari held her hand to the ground and closed her now purple eyes and said, "They're... off that way." she said, pointing down the long empty space towards where there was a golden glow coming at the end of it.

"What's going on?" Sanji asked worriedly.

"Are they dead?" Nami wondered, all in whispers.

"No. Not yet." Kari said and Sanji suddenly up and bolted through the tunnel they had just came from.

Sanji ran down through the darkness and when he got to the fork in the road, he took the left path towards the tubes that held everybody else. He could hear the rest of them coming down the tunnel as he ran and came out to see the semi-ring of the golden-like tubes. There was so much sand in them already that all he could see were hands. Some were above the surface of the sand that had yet to reach the very top and some were pressed against the glass. He couldn't tell which one Izzy was in. So he just randomly kicked the glass of one and it shattered, nearly tripping him over with the sand that came pouring out along with Skie in her wedding dress.

Sanji picked her up as she started coughing up all this sand.

"SKIE!" he said and she picked her head up and said, "Sanji!" very weakly.

"Where is Izzy?"

Skie was too busy coughing so Sanji put her back down on the sand and kicked open two others, out coming Cam and small Chopper after a while.

"Sanji!" someone yelled from far off but he kicked open another to have Luffy fall out.

He was getting angry so he kicked open two at a time and out came Ian and Shanks.

"Sanji?" Ian asked as he coughed up sand along with his father.

"WHERE IS IZZY?"

He could hear running and just as soon as he heard it, the Candymen were surrounding them.

"GET HIM!" one of them yelled and they were attacking him, bounding him with this sticky goo that came off of them. His hands were behind his back and the sticky stuff was around his mouth so he couldn't speak, or yell.

W-A-L-K-I-N-G-W-I-T-H-A-G-H-O-S-T

The ones that were trapped in the sand were brought up to the lab while the rest of the crew were held near the back.

Cam, Skie, Chopper, and Luffy were standing, their wrists held behind them by the Candymen. The sand had done something to them. Something odd. They were all very drowsy and could barely keep their heads up.

"Oh I will enjoy taking your powers. Though it would have been easier when you were good and dead, this is just as effective. Just so much more painful since you are conscious and alive." the Candyman said, pushing buttons and flipping switches on the long control panel in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?" Skie asked. "I didn't do anything to you."

The Candyman turned to her, a look on his face that said that she was right, "Ah, you are right. But you are on their crew and therefore just as guilty as they are. Guilty by Association, my dear!" he said, touching her chin lightly. She jerked her head away and Ian fought against the Candymen that was holding him.

"Bastard." Luffy said under his breath and the Candyman was going to go around and punch him in the gut, but he remembered that Luffy was rubber and just laughed and said, "You just wait!"

Zac was looking around at the room they were all standing in and he caught a glimps of Sanji, who was standing beside him. He was gazing off at the golden glow at the end of the long tunnel. Zac didn't have to have Ia's powers to know what Sanji was thinking.

Zac wanted to help, so he tried with all his strength and kicked his holding in the groin. His foot, as he remembered, sunk in up to the Candymen's stomach, or where his stomach should be.

"Ahh!" he yelled as he fell to the ground, the Candymen that was holding him fell with him, crying out in a little girly pitch.

Sanji got the idea, and swung his foot around and smashed it down hard on the Candy that was standing behind him. Squishing his head and half of his upper body.

"HEY! STOP!" the Candyman yelled, turning to the commotion that had started.

Now it was Nami and Zoro who were getting rid of their holders and Usopp was running around, realizing that the Candymen weren't as light as they use to, but they were still light enough to pick up.

Sanji finally managed to break free and he started running off towards the end of the tunnel.

He watched as the tubes grew closer, sand still pouring down since they were programed to keep pouring till the tube was full.

Sanji didn't waste any time and broke both tubes as he spun around in a roundhouse kick.

Ia and Izzy fell onto the sand, eyes closed, not moving at all.

"Ah crap." he said and heard running come up towards him. He turned and saw about a dozen Candymen running towards him with various weapons. All made of hard candy or rock candy or hard carmel (those were the sharp weapons).

They all launched themselves at him and he started spinning and kicking them all away from him and the girls laying either unconscious or dead on the sand.

Over at the other end of the tunnel, all the Candymen were fighting. Cam, Skie, Chopper, and Luffy seemed to have gotten some strength back and were helping the fight. Candymen were randomly disappearing and were appearing being throw at 100 mph at the walls of the tunnel. Bursting and smearing disgustingly on the wall like a smushed spider oozing red goo.

Chey was remembering that she could eat them, so she was taking off the heads of the various Candymen that were coming at her and taking a chunk out of them to make sure they were really dead. The bodies fell and started piling around where Chey was standing in her purple Bridesmaid dress.

Skie was leaping and landing on them, squishing them to oblivion. Red was getting all over her dress and up her legs, but she didn't care. She liked squishing them, especially in her two inch heals!

Zoro had gotten one of his swords back and was slicing and dicing the Candymen as they stupidly came near him. Torsos were in half as legs were split in half and then in quarters before anybody could say the word 'Candy.'

Chopper was in Running Form and was blowing past and into the Candymen as they were being speared onto his horns and when there were enough, he shook them all off and started again.

Usopp was smushing whatever he could reach with his hammer.

Nami was kicking ass with her staff.

Kelly and Kari were trying their best, but mostly they just led them into the other's grasp.

Zac and Ian were trying what Chey was doing, but for some reason they couldn'd get the heads off, so they just threw the entire Candyman itself as hard as they could in various directions.

Shanks was just watching. Nobody came near him so he just stood there.

"MY CANDYMEN!" The Candyman yelled as he watched what Luffy was doing, which was eating them! His stomach wasn't growing at all as he would swallow whole Candymen like a snake and then continue.

"Mmm mmm! Sanji! You should make these! Sanji?"

When Luffy didn't see Sanji in the mix, he quickly brushed the remaining Candymen near him away (they all splattered into the controll panel) and ran down the tunnel towards where he thought he saw Sanji run to.

He found Sanji fighting the remaining two Candymen in that area of the tunnel.

When he was finished (he kicked them deep into the sand that was still piling up) he instantly went to Izzy, who hadn't moved since he had broken her out of the tube.

"LUFFY! CHECK IA!" Sanji yelled fiercely and Luffy obeyed, never hearing Sanji talk like that before this.

Luffy quickly ran over to Ia, who he found not breathing.

"She's not breathing!" he yelled, looking at Sanji who was staring down at Izzy as he watched her catch her breath. When she took in a breath, he did too, for he had been holding his.

Sanji's head popped up at hearing that and he lept over to Ia and flipped her over onto her back.

"What should we do?" Luffy asked and Sanji looked at him, then back down at her, then back up at Luffy and said, "Mouth to mouth?"

"Ew." Luffy said quickly and Sanji popped him one on the head for that.

Sanji bent down and set his lips on her's. The next thing he knew, he was being popped in the head by a fist with perfect nails.

"The HELL are you doing?" Ia yelled, pushing Sanji off of her and getting up, spitting and brushing the sand off of herself.

"Why are you awake? You weren't breathing!" Sanji said, grateful that she was alive, but angry that she was awake.

"My mind is more powerful than Izzy's. Gosh. Get it through that blond skull!" Ia said, whiping her mouth with her blood red gloved hand.

Luffy looked from Sanji to Ia and said, "We gotta get out of here!"

"Where is everybody else?" Ia asked as they started running, Sanji holding the still unconscious Izzy.

"Still fighting." he said and Ia took a double back and started running in the opposite direction.

"GRAB HER!" Sanji barked at Luffy, who swung his arms out and grabbed Ia around the waist and dragged her back as well as he could, she was fighting well with her mind.

"LET! ME! GO!" Ia shouted as Luffy picked her up once his arms were normal length again and she started kicking as hard as she could in the air. Her two inch strappy heals flailing around on her feet.

"Sanji said to keep you here."

Ia didn't need to speak, but simply blasted Luffy backwards into the elevator and she started running as fast as she could down the small tunnel.

Sanji put Izzy down, yelling at Luffy to keep her safe, and ran after Ia.

R-E-A-D-Y-T-O-R-U-N

Back in the lab, all the Candymen were defeated. All that was left was the Candyman himself.

"Does this have to be deja vu for you?" Chey said, smirking as she held a head of one of the Candymen in her hand and she was sucking the red pop from it's severed neck.

"It won't be!" he said happily, evilly.

"Why do you think so?" Nami yelled.

"Because I'm smarter than all of you!" he said, laughing.

"But we defeated you last time?" Chopper said, confused.

"Yes. But-"

"Hah! You admit it!" Ia said, walking up to the group, a long tear in her dress making the hem now at her knees and the rest of the dress a nice train behind her.

"HOW DID YOU GET OUT! YOU WERE DEAD!"

"You forget that I'm more powerful than you!" Ia said, smirking.

"Just give up, Candyman!" Zoro said, holding his swords and placing his bandanna on his head.

"I will not! You'll have to kill me!"

Everybody let out a sigh and got ready to fight. Zoro placed his sword in his mouth, Nami got her staff ready, Usopp brought out his hammer, Chopper became huge, Skie got into a jumping stance, Chey dropped the head onto the ground, Ia held up her hands, and Cam got in a track start, but before anybody could move another inch, a sudden explosion from the control panel caused them all to stop and try to take cover from the flying metal debris.

The Candyman took this as a time to run.

So did the crew, but to the elevator.

C-H-A-T-T-A-N-O-O-G-A-C-H-O-O-C-H-O-O

The giant rock ceiling was beginning to crumble and it started falling as they neared the tunnel that was going to lead back to the elevator. Even the tunnel was falling! It had become so small that only one person at a time could walk through it. Zac was leading the line with Kari right behind him. Kelly followed with Usopp and Nami close behind her. Zoro and Chey were next with Shanks, Skie and Ian then Chopper and Cam and Ia brought up the end.

"YOU KNOW WHICH WAY?" Kelly yelled up at Zac. The rumbling was almost deafening and the falling rocks didn't help.

"Y-yeah!" Zac yelled behind him as he followed the tunnel straight to the elevator where they found Luffy, Sanji, and Izzy to be.

"GET IN!" Zac yelled and quickly shoved Kari and Kelly into the big elevator. He made sure everybody was in the elevator before he was about to climb in when Ia screamed, "WATCH OUT!"

The earth was falling quickly towards them and right as Zac was running to the elevator, it swallowed him whole.

"ZAC!" Kari screamed and was about to run out but was quickly grabbed around the waist from behind by Zoro as Usopp and Sanji quickly shut the big steel door and Ian started up the elevator.

At first, everybody thought that it wasn't going to go up, but eventually it did, with the screaming of metal against rock.

D-O-N-T-L-E-T-H-I-M-G-O

The elevator resurfaced and as soon as the doors were opened, everybody sprinted out and towards the trees, but they didn't get far, for they were lifted up in the air as soon as they touched ground.

"IA LET US DOWN!" Kelly yelled, finding it very weird to be suspended in mid air but she could walk as if there was something solid underneath her.

"No! The whole thing's gonna submerge soon."

"What? The ground beneath us?" Nami asked, looking down at the ground, scared.

"Yes. The mine just caved in, so soon the ground will too." Ia said, knowing this from living in the UP her whole life. Everybody there knew that, and Cam, Skie, and Chey confirmed it by nodding quickly.

Soon, the ground started sinking in like it was being sucked in by something but without the sucking noise. The elevator was brought down, the horrid screech of metal followed with it. The trees at the very edge of the clearing were bent down so that they were supported at the end by leaning against each other at the tip tops. The swings hanging down, suspending over the gaping black hole.

Everyone's face was in a state of shock and fright as Ia brought them all down to the safe forest floor in the trees.

* * *

8-8-08!

OH MY GOSH!

Don't hate me. Please.

SONgtImE

Paralyzer- Finger Eleven  
Sandy- From Grease  
Natural's Not In It- Gang of Four  
Walking With a Ghost- Tegan and Sara  
Ready To Run- Dixie Chicks  
Chattanooga Choo Choo- Glenn Miller  
Don't Let Him Go- Harry Safari


	32. Mixed Feelings

Chapter Thirty-Two

It was a long walk back to the Going Merry. A long and silent one.

When they got back to the Going Merry, they were greeted by Shanks' real crew, who were bouncing around and happy to be free. They stopped at the depressed looks on the other crew's, who just went to bed.

W-H-E-N-Y-O-U-R-E-G-O-N-E

The next morning, June 3rd, came, to the much disappointment to some people.

"Morning." Izzy said, walking into the kitchen where she saw Sanji cooking and Cam, Ia, Skie, and Chey sitting at the table.

"Good morning, Izzy-chan." Sanji said in a low tone as she walked over. He kissed her on the cheek as she noticed that Ia, Cam, Skie, and Chey were in a frozen-like state. Ia was staring at a place on the table beside Cam, who had his eyes closed and he was rubbing his forehead with his right hand, his left holding Ia's. Chey was in a fettle positing, holding her knees close to her face. Skie, even though she was now a married woman, and Izzy's new sister-in-law, was sitting alone, staring off into space like Ia.

"They've been there since early this morning, I think. They were here before I got here." Sanji said into Izzy's ear so the four sitting there couldn't hear him.

"What's wrong with them?" Izzy asked quietly into Sanji's ear.

"They knew Zac the most, so they're probably taking it the hardest."

"Oh." Izzy said, sneaking a strawberry and taking it out of the room with her.

P-A-I-N-T-I-T-B-L-A-C-K

"Hey, Mrs. Skie-chan." Ian said, smiling lightly as he came up to where Skie was sitting now. The Crow's Nest. For some reason, it reminded her of Zac.

"Hello, Mr. Ian-kun." she said, smiling a little, but her eyes still glossy.

Ian wrapped his arm around her shoulder and brought her head down onto his shoulder where she took a deep breath, taking in his scent.

"Anything I can do to make my wife happy?" Ian asked, kissing her forehead softly.

Skie thought and said, "Yeah, but we kinda need our own room."

Ian laughed and hugged Skie.

I-M-E-L-T-W-I-T-H-Y-O-U

"Even that cloud looks like Zac!" Ia cried, pointing up as she was laying on top of the kitchen with Cam.

"No it doesn't?"

"How does it not?"

"It has a big head- oh, I see your point!" Cam said, laughing.

"I take that back. I'm being mean."

Cam pushed himself up onto his elbow and stared down at his fiancee and said, "When are you not mean?"

Ia turned her head to him with a vicious glare and said, "He's dead now! I can't be doing this to someone who's dead!"

Cam laid back down and said, "He's in a better place now. Don't worry."

"I know."

C-O-M-E-S-A-I-L-A-W-A-Y

Kari was the one who was taking it the hardest.

Over the week that followed Zac's death, Kari was the least seen. According to the girls, she wouldn't come out of their room. Not for meals, not for anything, well, except to go to the bathroom. But that was now rare because she didn't eat.

"Kari, stop beating yourself up! It wasn't your fault!" Chey said calmly to Kari, who was on Chey's bed crying.

"I know it wasn't my fault. I figured that out a while ago."

"Then why are you still crying? Everybody else is moving on!" Izzy asked, holding Kari in her arms.

"There's something I need to tell you two. Zac was more than a friend to me!"

"You didn't." Chey hissed, getting giddy.

"No. But he didn't want anybody to know that we always snuck away to kiss!"

Now Chey was giggling so much she had to go over to Nami's bed and shove her face into the pillow to get herself to stop. Kari was glad that Ia and Skie weren't there.

"Oh my gosh! I never thought Zac was the kind of person to do something like that!" Izzy said, smiling uncontrollably now.

"Yeah! He said it was our little secret and that I shouldn't tell. I also told him his future."

"He knew?" Chey asked, bringing Nami's pillow down instantly.

Kari looked over at Chey and said, "He knew something bad was going to happen."

"Like what?"

"Something bad. It was foggy... I couldn't really make it out. But I knew something was wrong because I heard screaming." She smiled sadly. "Turns out it was mine."

"Oh, Kari... I'm so sorry." Chey said, walking over and hugging Kari.

B-I-G-G-I-R-L-S-D-O-N-T-C-R-Y

"I wonder when we're going home?" Chey wondered aloud later that day during supper, which was all shellfish.

"I oo noo?" Ia said, shoving five butterfly shrimp into her mouth at once.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Skie snapped.

"What are you? My mother?" Ia asked, spitting out the fifth tale onto her plate.

"Your eating habits are atrocious." Skie said, neatly taking a bit of her lobster and placing it in her mouth.

"When you got married... did Ian slip you something to make you _not _'atrocious?'" Ia asked, laughing.

Skie, who was about to take a drink of water, glared at Ia.

"I know." Kari said suddenly, her hand firmly on the table.

Ia and Skie turned to look at her across the table.

"Know what?"

"When you guys are leaving!"

"Really? When?"

"Soon."

L-E-A-V-I-N

The next day, everybody was getting ready for them to leave.

"I'm going to be so alone!" Nami said, looking over her shoulder and seeing Izzy and turning back to the rest of the girls.

Skie was freaking out, though.

"What if only I go back, Ian? What'll we do then?" she cried, yelling and running around.

"Don't worry! It'll be ok! I'll go talk to Kari, she seems to be handling everything." Ian said and walked over to where Kari was standing next to Nami.

"Kari... who's all going back?" Ian asked Kari, who was gazing over the edge of the railing at the shimmering water below. There was a school of black fish swimming by.

"What? Oh, Ian... I don't know."

"Why not?" Ian pressed, wanting to calm Skie down with something.

"Because some things I do see and some things I don't." Kari snapped, turning to him with her fierce hazle eyes.

"Ok. Sorry." Ian said and walked away, thinking she wasn't getting better, but worse.

The crew was out on deck for hours.

"I'm bored." Luffy said, hanging off the ram's head.

"You could clean." Ia suggested from where she was leaning up against the railing.

"I wanna do something FUN!" Luffy shouted.

Ia blinked and said, "Wanna go exploring!" she said slyly.

Luffy picked his head up and said, "What kinda exploring!" all excited.

Ia came closer and said, "Underwater kind!"

"YEAH YEAH YEAH!"

The ship had set sail a while back. Shanks' ship was right behind them.

Ia and Luffy snuck up to the stern where nobody was. They peaked over the rail to see the rushing water below.

"Ready?" Ia asked as they continued watching.

"Ready." Luffy said and Ia grabbed his hand and over they went.

"WHOA!" Luffy shouted.

Ia had created an air bubble using her water controlling powers and kept them up with her mind powers. Fish of multiple colours were swimming by and underneath them they could see a bright pink long snake like thing that had to be five stories long and a story thick!

"Oh my gosh!" Ia cried, laughing as a fish tried to swim through the top but fell through the air to the bottom where it made a splash back into the water.

"Where's the ship?" Luffy asked, looking around till he saw the big black mass way above them.

"Think they'll get mad?" Ia asked, looking at Luffy, who just grinned that typical grin and nodded. He and Ia liked to annoy people.

T-A-K-E-M-E-A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E

Zoro, who was working out and Chey was watching him for the last time, was looking around and spotted the ram's head.

"Hey... where's Luffy?" he said between lifts.

Chey, who was sitting on the railing, looked around and said, "Dunno. Keep working out!" she demanded like a crazy trainer trying to get him into the Olympics.

"Alright alright! It's just not like Luffy to not be there. Maybe he's in the kitchen?"

"I'll ask if it makes you feel better," Chey said and stopped Cam by holding up her leg so he could make his way to the stairs. "Where's Luffy?"

"I don't know? Has anybody seen Ia?"

Zoro and Chey shared a look and both sighed. Zoro put down the dumbbells and said, "She and Luffy are doing something." in a parental tone that usually would precede a punishment of some sort.

"I wonder what, though?" Chey said as Zoro picked her up and she sat on his shoulder as he walked up the stairs to the kitchen.

"I don't know and I don't care. As long as Luffy isn't drowning then I'm fine."

Little did Zoro know but that's what almost happened. Luffy got excited about catching a fish and fell into the water. Ia had to move the air bubble around so it caught him.

"IDIOT!" she yelled, smacking him on the head.

"What! That fish looked tasty and I wanted Sanji to cook it up!"

"Then let ME do the catching!"

"But _I_ wanna do it." Luffy complained.

"Do I have to bring this bubble back up?"

"No." Luffy said, crossing his arms like a little kid.

"Alright then!" Ia said brightly and brought the bubble underneath the Going Merry.

_'Help...me...'_

Ia stopped, froze, and stopped breathing.

_'Help... me...'_ it came again. In her mind. She could hear it. It was so faint and so far away. But still... it shook her. It sounded familiar.

"Ia? Ia? Ia... IA!" Luffy shouted, shaking Ia back to reality. Their bubble was sinking fast and they couldn't see the ship anymore.

"What?"

"Bring us back up!"

Ia obeyed and sprung the bubble back up to the surface where she froze the water so they could stand on it.

"Bring us back to the ship." Luffy said, seeing Ia's blank face.

Ia did, as if she was in a trance.

She flung the ice they were on at the ship off in the distance. It hit the ship's side and flung Luffy and Ia up onto the deck, smashing onto Usopp, Zoro, Chey, and Nami, who were, ironically, wondering aloud where Luffy and Ia were.

"Found them." Chey said, standing up and holding her lower back with one hand.

"Hey!" Luffy said brightly as he bounded up. The rest getting up, moaning about their new pain.

"Where were you guys?" Zoro yelled at Ia and Luffy, who were standing right next to each other watching the others get up.

"We were exploring the water." Luffy said plainly, Ia nodding.

Zoro's vein in his head popped out in the typical anime fashion. His eyes grew black as Luffy and Ia walked away.

"Let it go, Zoro. Let it go." Chey said soothingly as she stood next to his giant angry head.

Ia walked around, pacing by the railing as bigger and bigger waves started hitting the boat side.

"Ia, there you are, where were you?" Cam asked, coming down the stairs from the kitchen and coming up to Ia, who stopped pacing when he grabbed her upper arms to make her stop.

"I was exploring... exploring the water with Luffy." she said distantly and distractedly.

"Why?" Cam asked as she didn't meet his gaze.

"Luffy was bored." she said quickly, still distractedly.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh crap." Ia said and watched as the big waves rolled in on the clear day.

"What's a matter?" Cam asked.

The waves rolled the boat so that it tipped so violently that everybody started skidding down the deck towards the other side of the ship.

The boat stayed like that so everything started falling.

"WATCH OUT!" Nami screamed as a giant crate came flying towards where Skie and Ian were standing. Ia ran up and pushed them into the water, falling herself.

The ship lurched, causing Chey, Cam and Kelly to fall in the water too. Then it fell back to normal and continued sailing, causing everybody who was standing on the railing to fall hard on the deck along with all the stuff.

Zoro was first up to see over the railing for Chey.

"Where is she?" he shouted, getting scared.

"Who?" Nami asked, getting up and holding her left wrist in her right hand.

"CHEY! SHE'S NOT COMING UP!"

Then Kari came out of the cannon room and said, "I'm sorry Zoro. She's back home."

H-O-M-E

"Ow."

"You ok?"

"Yeah... think so."

Ia and Cam ended up back in the upstair apartment kitchen. Where they were last before returning to the ship.

Skie was in the bathroom.

Ian and Chey were on their beds. Kelly was in the downstairs living room.

"We're really back?" Ia asked as she and Cam got up from the checked white and black floor next to the kitchen table.

"Looks like it." Cam said.

"You guys are here!" Skie yelled, bursting into the kitchen arched doorway, scaring the crap out of Ia and Cam.

"Yes! I wonder where Chey is..." Ia asked, but her question was answered when she appeared behind Skie.

"What day is it?" she asked.

Ia and Cam raced to the kitchen window and opened it. It was dark out. And warm. No snow on the ground and they could hear birds starting to sing.

"According to the clock on the microwave it's 5:30." Chey said. Being on the west side of the house they coudn't see the pink horizon on the east.

"Where's Ian?" Skie whispered and Ia and Cam turned in unison to face her.

As if on cue, Ian walked in the door and said, "Why am I here?"

Skie turned and smiled, saying, "Cuz I'm here!"

* * *

Uber short, but there you go!

Do not worry!

8-10-08

Wait a minute? It's fricken done? OH MY GOSH!!

CHECK THAT!

Here's SONGTIME!!

When You're Gone- Avril Lavigne  
Paint It Black- The Rolling Stones  
Melt With You- Modern English  
Come Sail Away- Styx  
Big Girls Don't Cry- Fergie  
Leavin'- Jesse McCartney  
Take Me Anywhere- Tegan and Sara  
Home- Dixie Chicks


	33. Epilogue

And now here it is. What I've been working on for so long is now completed. Scary, no?

Chapter Epilogue

"And you think that I was really going to fall for that?"

"Yes."

"I've gotten smarter in the past years." Skie said.

"Smarter, but not taller." Ia retaliated, laughing.

It was six years after they returned home from One Piece. Since then, they've been trying to move on after losing someone close. But it was hard to move on from a place that they had gotten so much from. Meaning their powers. Skie could still jump over the Superior Dome in Marquette (she proved it on a bet she and Ia made. Ia lost ten bucks), Ia could still move things and read people's minds, and Cam could still get from Negaunee to Marquette in under three seconds.

In these six years that had passed, big things had happened. Ia and Cam finally got married a year after they came back from One Piece (July 14th to be exact) and Skie and Ian's son was their ring bearer. Since he was only a month old, Ia's little cousin Lila, who was their flower girl, had to push him in a little stroller down the aisle. Everybody thought it was terribly adorable.

On to Skie and Ian's son. Ian insisted that his name start with an I, because it was a sort of tradition in his family starting with his mother, Illiana. So, Skie being Skie, and Ian named their son Indiana. Or Indi for short. He had inherited Ian's fire red hair and calmness. The only thing he had gotten from his mother was her eyes.

Nine months after Ia and Cam's wedding, their little bundle of joy came along. And who would have guessed, it was a boy. They named him Nathaniel. Nathaniel had gotten Cam's blue eyes and running abilities but he looked so much like his mother that people often mistook him for a girl which didn't make Cam all to happy. But their second child, a girl, who was born two and a half years after Nathaniel, looked so much like Cam. Except she had her mother's eyes and her mother's mind. The found that out when she was two days old and she floating around in her crib, scaring Kelly who had been visiting when it happened. Ia was happy, Cam... not so much.

Speaking of Kelly, she had stayed in Michigan, getting a job as a designer for various things like logos for stores, designs on t-shirts, stuff like that. She eventually was able to work out of her apartment in her own design business but still drew in her spare time. But before she had left the company she was working for, she had met Spencer. It's his apartment that she's now working out of. They've been going out for a year now.

Skie and Ian had their own second child, who had Ian's hair again. She was also a girl and they named her after Ian's mother, Illiana. So they had Indiana and Illiana while Ia and Cam had Nathaniel and Amelia. Indi was five, Nate was four, Illiana was going to be three, and Amelia was 18 months.

"So, why are we on this walk?" Ia asked as they were walking through downtown Marquette past the shops and people and cars. In front of them, they could see the beautiful Lake Superior between two buildings on the sharp hillside.

"I have things to tell you about!" Skie said, beaming. Both girls had one of their children with them. Skie had Lili (Illiana's nickname) and Ia had Amelia.

"What is it?" Ia asked as Amelia looked around with her big brown eyes.

"Well... Um..." Skie said, waiting for Ia to spazz out because she was probably reading her mind right now.

"OH MY GOSH!" Ia screamed and Skie sighed, waiting for- "YOU'RE EGGO IS PREGO!"

"Would you stop quoting Juno every time I get pregnant?" Skie laughed, being serious, too.

"NO! OH MY GOSH YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Ia screamed, beaming from ear to ear as she refrained from hopping up and down. So she handed Amelia to Skie and started hopping up and down on the spot. The people passing by stared at her, but kept moving.

"Calm down! Yes! I am! Would you stop! People are staring." Skie said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder to stop her from bouncing.

"OH MY GOSH!" Ia cried once more and hugged her, despite Amelia being in Skie's arms and Lili being crushed between their legs.

"Excited much? Gosh, I wasn't this excited when I found out this morning!"

"You mean Ian doesn't know!" Ia said, smiling uncontrollably. "Are you kidding me! I know before Ian! I am awesome!"

"Yeah, you know before Ian. So, I'm inviting you to supper tonight so I can tell ALL of you. So don't go around telling everybody just yet, will ya?"

Ia seemed to be fighting with herself internally until she finally said, "Alright!"

I-L-I-K-E-T-O-M-O-V-E-I-T-M-O-V-E-I-T

Chey, who was sitting at a lab on the campus of Michigan Technological University, heard her phone vibrating on her desk. It made a loud jackhammer noise and she picked it up and read the caller ID. _Skie._

"Hello, Skie. Kinda busy right now, can you make it quick?" Chey said, looking down at some papers. She was a biologist there in the Science department.

"Hey, since it's Friday, think you can make it down here for supper at my house round seven?"

Chey looked at her watch, which read 1:27, and she said, "Oh, of course! Sean and I will be there!"

"Yay! See you then, Chey!" and Skie hung up.

Sean was Chey's fiancé. They had met when Chey had went to Ireland for a semester, they were both seniors and when they graduated (after dating for three months) Sean proposed and so she had brought him home for everybody to meet.

After getting a job as one of the youngest to be hired by MTU, they decided to stay in Houghton and get married during the summer. They were going to get married in July and honeymoon for the rest of July and most of August and return before school started up again in the fall.

Chey put down her phone back onto the wooden desk and heard the vibration again. She looked down, getting frustrated, and saw it was only a text from Ia.

**OMG, Chey! U wil never believe what Skie has planned on telling everybody 2night!**

Chey, getting curious, texted back but Ia didn't respond.

A-M-E-S-S-A-G-E

Kelly was sitting at her desk staring out the window down at Marquette with her feet up on the desk. A client wanted a logo for his new store called Rings and Things. It was a jewelry store and he wanted the logo to have red and blue and gold in it. She was having a little trouble.

"Having troubles, Love?" Spencer asked, walking into the little office room that Kelly took over. Spencer didn't work at the design company anymore but rather at the mine. The pay was better and plus he always said he wasn't ever really that good at the design company. Kelly stood up for him, saying he was marvelous.

"Yeah. My client want's me to make him a logo for Rings and Things using red, blue, and gold. He doesn't want it funky, so I'm having a little trouble."

Spencer took a look at what she had come up with so far and said, "I'm sure you'll get it. That's a funny name, Rings and Things."

"He sells _wedding_ rings." Kelly said, putting emphasis on the 'wedding' part. Spencer froze but then left the room after giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Kelly sighed and hear her phone vibrate on her desk next to her laptop. _Skie_

"Hello, Skie." Kelly said.

"Hey, Kelly! Think you and Spencer could make it here for supper tonight? Round seven?"

Kelly thought about it and said, "I guess so. I need a break from my clients stupid logo. Sure! We'll come!"

"YAY!" Skie yelled and hung up.

Two nano seconds later the phone vibrated again and this time it was a text from Ia.

**U WIL NEVER GUESS WAT SKIE HAS TO TEL US 2NIGHT!!**

R-E-A-D-M-Y-M-I-N-D

So, at the last chime of seven on the clock, there was a knock on the door, but Ia just let herself in. It was only something she did at Skie and Ian's house. Skie and Ian lived in a small house in Marquette near the Peter White Library. The siding was sky blue.

On the walls in the entrance hall were pictures of Skie and Ian's wedding. The wedding they had in this world. It was kind of hard to explain to Skie's family that she was already married, so she just simply told them that she and Ian were going to get married! The wedding was held a couple weeks after they arrived home with the wedding party changed slightly. Amber did become the Maid of Honor (much to the displeasure of some people (Ia and Chey)) and the Best Man was changed to Cam while the second and third groomsmen were Skie's brother, Bob, and one of her cousins. The wedding was small, just Skie's family and friends. But even though they got married to everybody on June 30th, they always celebrated their anniversary on June 2nd.

"Why do you bother knocking?" Skie asked, coming in with Indi at her side, peaking out from behind her. He was shy. Which was weird because Skie was loud and outgoing and Ian was up to meeting new people. Indi just didn't like people. And Ia and Cam were his godparents!

"Hello, Indi." Ia said, smiling and bending over, holding her daughter, and said, "Do you remember Amelia?"

Indi nodded and came out from behind the safety of his mother and went to touch Amelia, who flipped him upside-down.

Skie grabbed him around the middle and Amelia laughed. She was, remember, 18 months old.

Skie glared at Ia as if it was her fault.

"Mia. No." Cam said as if it happened all the time, which it probably did, while Nate ran into the house.

"Do her eyes flash green?" Ian asked, coming in with Lili.

"Not that I know of." Ia said, looking at her daughter, who was struggling to get down. Ia didn't let her.

"Can she control them yet?"

"Sorta. The only time she can't is when she gets the hiccups." Ia said.

"It's like a mini earthquake whenever she hiccups." Cam said, walking into the house.

"It is." Ia said, nodding as she followed him into the kitchen.

Skie and Ian walked in and stood at the peninsula counter opposite of Cam and Ia, who had sat Amelia down on the counter.

"So, when's Chey and Kelly gettin here?" Ia asked, leaning most of her weight a bit over the counter so she wasn't entirely on her feet.

"Kelly and Spencer are coming soon and Chey and Sean should be here soon."

"Oh. Sean is coming?" Ia said, her excitement dropping.

"Yeah? What? Is that a problem?"

Ia straightened up and didn't meet Skie's gaze when she said, "No." in a total tone that everybody knew she ment 'Yes.'

"What's wrong with Sean?" Ian asked, looking at his friend.

"Nothing." Ia snapped, turning so she was staring at the wall with her arms crossed, her back to Cam who was originally to her left.

"Come on. You've been like this every time Chey brings him around!" Skie said, whining a little as Ian walked around the peninsula to the oven to get the lasagna out.

"No I haven't!" Ia snapped, turning around to face Skie with fierce eyes.

"Yeah, you have." Cam said, agree with Skie and picking up Amelia from the coutner so if Ia did something she wouldn't be in any danger. They could all hear the boys playing upstairs and Lili trying to play with them, but it seems that Indi had slammed his door shut so she couldn't get in.

Skie sighed, irritated, and said, "Be right back." and stormed out of the kitchen.

U-P-I-S-D-O-W-N

They were all sitting at the table (the kids upstairs since they ate before the adults except for Amelia, who was asleep in the living room).

"So, Skie, what are you planning on telling us?" Chey asked. She was sitting next to Sean who was sitting next to Kelly who was at the head of the table and beside her was Spencer, then Cam, then Ia, then Skie at the other head, then Ian and back to Chey.

Skie coughed up the little water she had in her mouth and glared at Ia.

"You told?" she snapped.

Ia scoffed, hiding her laughter, and said, "No! Technically you said that I couldn't go around telling everybody! I just told _her_ _you_ were going to tell us something!" she said with a broad smile.

Skie continued to glare, but turned to everybody and said, "Guys, Ian and I have great news!"

"We do?" Ian asked, just as confused as everybody, minus Ia, was.

"Yes! See. Ian, I'm pregnant!"

Chey squealed along with Ia and Kelly as they stood up and hugged their friend as she sat there in her chair.

"YOU ARE!" Ian yelled, finally bringing his jaw up from the table and getting excited.

"Yes!" Skie said and Sean, Spencer, and Cam were compelled to congratulate Ian on a job well done.

"Shall we eat?" Skie asked as a chunk of lasagna disappeared from the pan and ended up on Cam and Ia's plates.

"Thank you!" Ia said, grinning.

"You're welcome!" Cam said in the same tone as everybody gave them looks of 'you should stop.'

"Oh my God!" Sean said in his deep Irish accent. He was having trouble getting use to half the people at the table have extraordinary abilities. Spencer found it fun to watch. Ia knew he wanted a cool power of his own, but was happy that Kelly didn't have any powers. That she was normal.

To creep Sean out more, Ia didn't use her hands to feed herself. She just picked up the fork with her mind and fed herself like that. Something she usually didn't do because she wasn't that lazy, but she only did it when she was eating in the presence of Sean, whom she did not like. Why, you may ask? She doesn't know. She just didn't like him. Chey knew this and shot a look across the table at Ia and continued eating. Ia didn't like this look, or this silence, so she said, "So, Ian! What's for desert?"

M-U-S-H-Y-P-E-A-S

Once desert was finished (a chocolate pie that Skie had half of) they spent the rest of their time talking and laughing.

They heard a loud raspberry come from the arched doorway leading from the living room into the small dinging room. It came from Amelia, who had crawled in.

"Hello, Mia!" Sean said, being, with Kelly, the nearest to the door. Amelia, unlike her mother, liked Sean a lot.

Sean picked her up and set her down on the table, where she crawled over to the middle and sat down. Ia had put her dark brown hair up in pigtails so the light feathery brown strands were sticking up from either side of her head. Her great big brown eyes were scanning over everybody and then they sort of blanked out and she said, "Help... me..." in a soft sort of deep whisper that nobody had heard her say before.

Ia's laughing face turned suddenly to stone. The colour fell out of her face and her eyes grew huge. Amelia looked around, almost as if she were scared.

"I haven't heard her say that before!" Skie said.

"Uh... Come here, Amelia," Ia said, getting up rather quickly from her chair and picking up the baby, who went not to her mother, but to her father.

"What's a matter?" Cam asked her as she buried her face into his shirt.

Ia, almost panicking, said rather rushed, "Cam, bring her here." she said and went into the living room. Cam followed after.

"What is it?" he asked once they got into the dark room, but Ia led him upstairs into Skie and Ian's bedroom, shutting the door to the kids and turned to Cam and said, "She didn't just make that up."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never told anybody about this... but on the last day we were on the Going Merry... when Luffy and I were in the bubble underwater... I heard that same exact statement." Ia said, almost getting hysterical.

"What?"

"It was in my head. It was very faint, like a whisper, but not. It was like something you would hear in a breeze of the wind! It scared me... but I haven't heard it since... till now. And I think I know now who was saying that to me and Amelia."

Cam, looking very confused at Ia's sudden quick outburst, asked, "Who?"

Ia took in a breath and braced herself, "Zac."

There was a silence as Cam placed Amelia down on the bed and turned back to Ia and said, "What? Zac is-"

"Dead, yes, I know. But it was." Ia said.

"Are you... are you sure? You sure it just wasn't your own mind saying it?"

Ia looked at him as if he were crazy, "No! I knew it wasn't my own! And I just got it confirmed three minutes ago with Amelia!"

"Calm down! I'm just saying. It's kind of impossible for Zac to be thinking if he's dead, you know?"

Ia stared at herself in the mirror and didn't like what she saw, herself becoming crazy. She turned away quickly and went and sat on the bed with Amelia, who she brought close to herself.

"Help... me..." Amelia said again and Ia just whispered, "Stop... stop... stop..."

Cam was about to sit beside her when Amelia said, "Help... me... Ia..."

"Did she just say your name?"

Ia stared at her daughter, whom she had placed back on the bed.

Amelia repeated what she had just said.

"Why do you need help Zac? And- wait, why are you talking to me through Melia! Talk to me you idiot!" Ia barked, standing up and yelling at the ceiling.

"I thought you weren't going to be mean to him now that he's dead." Cam said, going to sit by Amelia who wasn't speaking anymore. She just looked scared. She didn't like the voices in her head.

"Apparently he's not dead so I can be mean to him all the hell I want." Ia yelled.

"Not in front of Mia."

"That's my rule." Ia snapped back at him. She was usually the one to say not to swear in front of the kids to Cam, but she was hysterical now.

"Look. She's stopped." Cam said.

"She might start up again." Ia said warily, standing away from her little girl, who was being held by her father.

"No. She's going to sleep."

Ia looked at her and sighed, wondering if that would be the last of it.

O-V-E-R-K-I-L-L

"Please!"

"No."

"PLEASE!"

"No, Sanji."

"But you know how much she ment to... the crew." Sanji pleaded.

Izzy gave him a look and said, "Sanji, we are not naming our daughter after Ia."

Yes. Two years later and Izzy and Sanji finally had a child. While on Earth, six years had passed, in One Piece, only two had passed.

They had gotten married six months after Ian, Skie, Ia, Cam, and Chey left. They had gotten married in December (December 14th) in front of Shanks crew and their crew. Shanks was so proud that he now had a son in this world that he cried. It was funny!

"But Ia starts with an I!"

"I was thinking about naming her after my mother." Izzy said, ignoring her husband, and gazing into her daughter's face. Unfortunately for her, their daughter had gotten Sanji's blond hair instead of her red hair. But she did have a heart shaped face and Izzy's dark blue eyes. She was a month old already.

"We're running out of time! Soon she'll end up answering to anything! Chair, floor. Table, ceiling?" Sanji yelled.

"Illiana?"

"No." Sanji said flatly.

"How's about India?"

"No."

"Iona?"

"No."

"Iolanthe!" Luffy said, popping up behind them.

"NO!" both Izzy and Sanji yelled.

"Why not name her Isabella?"

"We're not naming her after me." Izzy said, turning to Luffy.

"Your name is Izzy!" Luffy shouted.

"It's short for Isabella, you idiot!" Izzy shouted back.

"WHAT!?" Luffy shouted.

"What about Iris?" Zoro said as he was working out.

Izzy and Sanji looked at each other with bright eyes.

"Iris?" Izzy said, smiling.

"Yeah! Iris!"

"Alright! Iris it is! Thank you, Zoro."

"No problem." Zoro said. Over the two years that have passed, Zoro had become more softer around the crew. Harsher around his enemies. Nobody knew why he had become softer, but maybe it was the loss of Chey that caused it. Who knew? All they knew was that Zoro secretly kept hoping that soon Chey would come back so they could be together.

"I could have told you her name." Kari said, walking out from her and Nami's bedroom.

"Then why didn't you?" Sanji asked, turning to Kari with angry eye.

Kari shrugged and said, "You didn't ask." and walked to the kitchen.

Through the two years, Kari had gotten them all out of tough situations. Like escaping the Navy, or warning about if the island is safe enough for Pirates.

"Hey, Nami. Iz and Sanji named their baby Iris."

"Iris? I. Of course." Nami said, placing down her map and sighing.

Kari watched Nami and said, "Still jealous?"

"I AM NOT JEALOUS!" Nami screamed.

Kari giggled and said, "Alright!"

Nami's eyes narrowed as she asked, "Why are you giggling?" in a tone that sounded like she was going to kill.

"Well... Ia did tell me about the time you got totally jealous over Sanji and Izzy!"

"I will kill her." Nami vowed to herself.

Kari sighed and stared out the porthole. She always hated June 2nd. The day... he died. She stared out at where Izzy finally let Luffy hold Iris and the baby almost fell out of his arms and was caught by Sanji.

"_Oh Great." _she thought as she felt herself being tied into another vision. Most likely of the future.

"_Oh, it's the present again." she thought as she could see another world completely different from the one she was in. She could see Ia, fretting again. But over what? For some reason this vision was vision only. She saw a little girl sitting on the bed beside Cam. _

_Ia was pacing around the room. She was saying something, but what was she saying? Kari hated it when her visions came muted. Or if they were just noise and no vision. She liked the complete set. _

_Eventually this short vision dimmed _and she could see the normal again.

"Another vision?" Nami asked, taking a sip of tea that she must have made while Kari was having this vision.

"Yeah." she said quietly.

"What was it?"

Kari had decided not to tell the crew about the visions that she saw of the others in their world. She got about one a week.

Kari turned to face Nami and said, "Oh... not much."

"A lot of your visions have been that way. Is something wrong?" Nami asked.

"Oh no. Just a vision of nothing important. Just some random people. It was a present one. Had no sound again."

Nami shrugged and took another sip.

S-U-D-D-E-N-L-Y-I-S-E-E

It was a few days later and Ia was home alone. Nate and Amelia were at her parents' and Cam wasn't there. It was around 1:30 in the afternoon when Ia couldn't take the silence any longer and decided to drive to Marquette.

It was when she was in the parking garage in the lowest level they had just put in next to Snowbound Bookstore.

She was the only car down there (all the other levels were full) and the orange lights made it feel like it was one in the morning and not in the afternoon.

Ia stepped out of her car and slammed the door shut. At the other end of the structure she could see the flickering orange light in the corner. She glanced over there quickly but had to look again for what she saw was someone she hoped she would never ever see again. He was just sanding there, looking at her with a smile that said he was going to get her. He was going to get her back for what she and the crew had done.

The Candyman.

In the few flickers that happened she saw him standing there but on the fourth flicker... he was gone instantly.

* * *

8-11-08

Ok, there are a few things I need to get out before I officially finish this thing. Dedications are one.  
But there is something new, now (as of 10-11-08). I accidentally lost a bet to Kelly and now I have to dedicate the entire series to her. Which means that the first one is gonna be dedicated to someone else!

_Who Are You Trilogy: _**To Kelly. One, for making me loose a bet but two, for helping me get into Fanfics. For that I thank you.**

_Who Are You?_: **To packardball for reviewing that which you read! **

_Why Are You Here?_: **To Skie for pushing me to update just as much as I pushed her.**

_Where Are You?_: **To Zac and not just because I killed him in this but because he gave me actual constructive criticism.**

SongTime is another.

THE LAST SONGTIME!

I Like To Move It Move It- Crazy Frog  
A Message- Coldplay  
Read My Mind- The Killers  
Up is Down- From POTC At Worlds End  
Mushy Peas- Jim Wearne  
Overkill- Collin Hay  
Suddenly I See- KT Tunstall


End file.
